Power Rangers: Advanced
by SkyeGear
Summary: Two young Rangers steal a pair of Morphers to face off with a reborn enemy. Determined to fight for the world they're set to inherit, Jake and Aiden must form their own team of Power Rangers. With four veteran Rangers at their backs and four new Rangers at their sides, they take on Lord Zedd as he resumes his interrupted conquest of Angel Grove and the Earth itself.
1. Return of an Old Friend

_A/N: There is a virtual book of backstory for this. Since this is a fanfiction story, it obviously does not exit in canon. However, I have done a lot of work to make it work within the established canon (as of the end of_ Dino Charge _, anyway). I get you might be confused from time to time, but I will do my best to answer all your continuity questions **in-story** (assuming I get far enough in to do so)._

* * *

 **Chapter 1  
** _Return of an Old "Friend"_

 **Location: Egypt**

This had to be the dustiest tomb in all of Egypt.

As Zander trudged through the dark cavern with only a torch and thirty of his best students, he chuckled at the absurdity of the statement. How much dustier could a tomb get? He'd wondered that during his last expedition, but now he knew, and regretted ever asking the question. His chuckle, however, caused him to start coughing again, as a simple bandanna over his face wasn't the best protection against the stale, dusty air of a tomb whose age was measured in millennia. Still, how could this be any more exciting? He was entering into the tomb of an unknown Pharaoh, one whose traps were more advanced than any he'd seen before. The sheer number that still worked was fascinating, but the traps themselves seemed more technologically cutting-edge (no joke intended). He was keen enough to have avoided most of them, though a poor research assistant was being airlifted to a hospital in Cairo now thanks to a dart in the leg.

It took hours, but Zander found his way into the main chamber. It sat undisturbed, which was an oddity. King Tutankhamen aside, most tombs were raided by graverobbers years before modern archaeologists could find them. But this tomb was pristine, untouched. What they could learn there might turn the world on its head.

The archaeologist's thoughts were interrupted by an assistant's voice. "Professor Lorde! Over there!" The young man was pointing toward a corner of the room, where what looked like a painting covered up by cloth lay. The gold frame was ornate, peeking out from behind the heavy cloth under a layer of thick dust and sand.

The Professor looked at it quizzically as he gingerly stepped over to it, making sure to check for pressure plates or tripwires. Once he got there, he turned to look at the assistants. "Start photographing," he ordered. "I want every inch of this place on photographic record." Normally it was his policy to photograph first, touch later. But something about this picture was calling to him, and he couldn't help himself. He removed the heavy fabric as he picked it up... to reveal it was a mirror.

As he held the large mirror in his hands, he stared at his reflection, watching his expression turn puzzled. Something was... off. Something about all of this seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Before he could think any further on the topic, a strange pulse of energy emitted from the mirror, freezing the world around Zander and sending an all-too familiar chill down his spine. His image in the mirror began to transform into a horrifying creature of red muscle and silver exoskeleton. Zander tried to cry out, but couldn't move either. He could only stare, transfixed by the image he saw before him.

Lord Zedd.

Zander went to drop the mirror, but Zedd was too fast. His chrome hands slithered out of the mirror and grabbed onto Professor Lorde's arms, gripping them painfully while Zander could only watch.

"You are WEAK!" Zedd exclaimed. "You had the power to shape this universe in your own image, and you allowed that weak-willed Zordon to steal that power from you, rendering you a helpless, pathetic human."

"You're wrong!" Zander shouted at the mirror, able to move again for the first time. "I'm free of you now! I never wanted-"

"You always wanted to be evil!" Zedd retorted as he clenched tighter on Zander's arms, causing him to cry out, but leaving him unable to drop the mirror. "Admit it, Professor. You miss the strength. The Power. The ability to have whatever you want, whenever you want."

Zander's resolve was strong - he regretted his life as Lord Zedd and had chosen to live a life of quiet discovery after he was freed of that personality. But for a tenth of a second - an inexplicably tiny moment, that resolve wavered. It became a tiny tinge of regret. Regret over losing that power.

That moment was all Zedd needed. A bright flash of light blinded him, and in Lorde's place was Zedd in all his evil glory.

The exact nature of the accident was never fully understood. While most would have assumed that the old tomb collapsed in on itself after thousands of years of structural instability, the unspeakable horrors the survivors faced, the horrors they couldn't communicate, implied a much darker story.

* * *

 **Location: Sierra Pelona** **Mountains** **,** **California**

Billy's footsteps echoed loudly in the dark building as he slowly made his way to the last panel. "Just a couple more adjustments to make," he muttered as he connected two wires together. "It's always a wiring problem around here... Okay, turn it on!" he yelled as he slammed the panel shut.

Across the room, Adam flipped a large switch into the up position. A gentle hum could be heard as lights slowly turned on, and various control panels began powering up. "Is it all working?"

"Running diagnostic," Tommy said from one of the control panels. After a few seconds' pause, he gave the thumbs up. "Alright, everything's good to go."

"Viewing globe appears to be online as well," Katherine said as she watched various images of faraway planets flicker across.

Billy approached the large blue tube of energy in the corner. "What about you, Zordon?"

Moments later, a face appeared inside the energy. "I am here, Billy. All systems appear to be operational. The new Command Center is online. Good work, all of you."

The three former Power Rangers looked around at what they'd done. It looked much like the Power Chamber that served as the Zeo and Turbo Rangers' base of operations. In the center were rows of consoles with flat touchscreen panels capable of emitting holographic interfaces as well. Hidden doors in the gray walls led to other areas, like a break room, holographic training area, and even a room with beds. The new Command Center was state-of-the-art, even by Eltar's standards.

Finally, the back wall was lined with colored display tubes - Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, Pink, Green, and one whose color rotated. In each tube was the image of a Ranger costume that changed randomly - a tribute to the Rangers that came before them. As Katherine approached, she saw the suits belonging to the Red RPM Ranger, the Yellow Ninja Storm Ranger, the Blue Mega Ranger, the Black Dino Charge Ranger, the Pink Time Ranger, the Green Galaxy Ranger, and the Silver Space Ranger. She watched for a few more seconds as the Silver Ranger's costume shimmered and vanished. The tube began to glow purple, and the Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger's costume took its place.

"Billy, it's wonderful," Katherine said, turning back to the original planner of the base. "It almost feels like I'm home again. But I don't understand why. You come back from Aquitar and spend all your time repairing the Power Coins, building this chamber, working behind the scenes helping other Ranger teams without even them knowing... Tommy had trouble separating his life from his time as a Ranger, but you..." She paused, selecting her words carefully. "It almost seems like you don't know how to live your life when there's not a world to save."

"There's always a world to save," Billy replied simply. And, right on cue, the alarms started sounding.

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove, California**

Aiden raced down the street, straight for the source of the chaos. He was knocked down no less that four times before he reached a vantage point. The enemy couldn't see him, but he could certainly see what he was up against.

The creature was some kind of fish monster, cackling and just generally acting crazy. He had a special flute... or something like it... that allowed him to possess cars and smash them into buildings and each other. People were screaming and scattering to the winds as he peeked out from around the corner. The monster was headed this way. It was now or never. Aiden reached for his pocket and...

A hand grabbed his arm and whirled him around, Aiden yelping in surprise. There stood Jake, a dominating guy with a dominating personality. He was your average jock who liked doing jock-y things, and was kind of a jerk at times. But Aiden was (tenuously) friends with Jake, mostly because their parents knew each other. "What are you doing here?" Jake hissed, moving a lock of hair from his eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing," Aiden hissed back. "You need to get out of here, it's not safe."

Jake cocked an eyebrow. "Actually, you're the one who needs to get out of here. I've got this handled."

"Got this handled?" Aiden asked quizzically as another civilian bolted by them in an attempt to escape the chaos. "How exactly do you- wait, you don't mean..."

"What?!" Jake demanded.

In response, Aiden pulled the object from his back pocket. It was a silver Power Morpher with the Mastodon coin.

In response to that, Jake also pulled out a Power Morpher, this one gold with the Dragon coin. The two looked at each other for a few moments before Aiden spoke. "I guess we're doing this together. You think we can work as a team?"

A car flew into the building next to them, smashing loudly as metal twisted and alarms sounded. "Less talking, more morphing," Jake said, eyes wide.

"You start," Aiden said.

With a nod, Jake held his morpher out. Aiden performed a slightly more complicated preparation sequence, arcing the morpher over his head, then rotating it in front of him. Jake called out with a strong, commanding voice.

"It's Morphin' Time! Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

* * *

 **Location: Sierra Pelona Mountains, California**

The former Rangers watched in confusion as a Green and a Black Ranger took on Pirantishead. They dodged expertly, took quick strikes and vanished, but weren't able to do much for the property damage.

"Where are your Morphers?" Billy and Kat demanded in unison.

Adam and Tommy looked at each other. "Mine's locked up in a safe at home."

"Same here," Tommy said.

"Are their powers channeling through the Command Center's link with the grid?" Kat asked Billy who was already at the controls.

"Affirmative. Their connection was made through Adam and Tommy's Morphers somehow."

As Adam and Tommy stared dumbfounded at the Viewing Globe, Kat pressed Billy for more information. "Can we get a link into their helmets? Not to speak, just to listen?"

"Stand by."

There was a few moments of silence. Everyone stopped breathing, even Billy.

 _"Ranger Green! See if you can distract him! I'll snipe him with the axe."_

Adam's jaw dropped.

 _"Fine, just be quick about it. He's running out of cars to smash."_

Tommy stumbled backwards as Kat gasped sharply. Her eyes widened, then narrowed in anger as she turned to Tommy. "Your son stole your Morpher!" she yelled, poking Tommy in the chest.

" _My_ son?! Why is he suddenly _my_ son?!" Tommy demanded, not able to come up with a better retort.

"I don't see him wearing pink out there," she said sharply, producing her Morpher from the back of her belt. "Some of us keep our important items nearby at all times."

In a show of minor solidarity, Billy produced his Triceratops Morpher.

"And you," Kat continued, pointing at Adam. "Is that who I think it is?"

Adam was silent, but nodded slightly, still watching the globe. As Ranger Green ducked out of the way, Ranger Black fired his Power Ax from a nearby rooftop. The ax emitted a beam of cold energy that froze Pirantishead solid. Leaping from the roof, the Black Ranger slashed down with his ax, shattering the ice and sending the injured monster flying down the street. He screeched something about not being beaten yet before teleporting away, his army of Putties following behind.

"Get them back here _now_." Kat's order chilled Billy's spine as he force-teleported the two Rangers back to the Command Center.

* * *

"What were you thinking?!" Adam yelled. "Do you realize what you were up against?!" The Morphers had been confiscated and placed in a lined case, along with all the other Morphers for the rest of the team.

"Hey, we beat it, didn't we?" Jake retorted.

"Stay out of this," Tommy said angrily, but quietly. "Your turn is coming up soon enough."

Aiden shook his head. "Dad, this is necessary. You trained me in martial arts for _years_. You're the second-longest serving Ranger in history, but... you're getting old. And I want a shot at defending the Earth."

"What he said," Jake said weakly.

"You don't even know what you're defending the Earth against," Tommy pointed out. "Whatever sent that monster has to know a lot about us. He sent a monster that nearly destroyed us last time. You're lucky this battle went so easily. Whoever this new enemy is-"

"Lord Zedd."

Zordon's booming voice turned the heads of everyone in the room. His words, however, dropped the temperature in the Command Center ten degrees. "I've analyzed the sensor readings from a recent disturbance on the moon. They are an exact match to Lord Zedd."

"That's...impossible," Kat said. "Zedd was defeated."

"Defeated, but not killed," Aiden pointed out. "Some of the bad guys went human, right? Besides, is anything impossible? Zordon was dead at one point, and here he is in the... erm, flesh." Aiden's words caused the four Veteran Rangers to look at each other with concern.

"You can't fight Zedd," Adam said flatly. "It's not happening."

"You can't either," Aiden argued back calmly. "Don't pretend like you're not getting older. It's been 27 years since you guys became Rangers. Ish. All those years of fighting monsters and practicing martial arts have taken a toll on you guys and you know it."

"We're older than you were when Zordon chose you," Jake added, diplomatically avoiding any mention of Rita choosing his father. "It's time to pass the torch."

"We are literally two of the most well-trained fighters in the world thanks to you two. And for what? You didn't have us advance to such high levels or dedicate so much time to training to keep us safe from muggers. The Earth is our planet too, and we're the ones inheriting it. It's our turn to defend it, and we're more than ready."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Kat spoke up. "You'll need a team," she said.

"We talked about that earlier," Jake said, looking at Aiden. "We each have two candidates in mind to round out the team." Jake stepped forward, retrieving the T-Rex Coin and Morpher. "Red is more my color..." he muttered before tossing Aiden the Mastodon Morpher. "We all know we need to do this," he concluded.

Aiden nodded in agreement. "And we'll always have you guys to advise us and back us up," he said in a reassuring voice. "In the absolute worst-case scenario, you can always assume what's left of the Zeo power. But I honestly don't think it will come to that."

More silence. It was almost deafening for at least a minute before Adam relented. "Alright, Aiden. We'll do this - on a trial basis, mind you - and see what happens. We may honestly not have much choice in the matter." The group glanced at the Viewing Globe which showed an image of the rebuilt palace on the moon.

Kat and Tommy looked at each other, giving a slow nod before looking back at Jake. "Alright, we'll try this. But you two need to know what you're getting yourselves into - Zedd could attack any time, day or night. Your schoolwork will become a mess. Your social lives will be virtually nonexistent."

"We're ready," Jake simply said with a nod from Aiden for support.


	2. Test of the Leader

**Chapter 2  
** _Test of the Leader_

 **Location: Zord Cockpit**

There was a lot going through Bryan's mind. He went on vacation for a week to see his family in Mariner Bay only to return and be practically abducted by his friend Aiden. He was pulled into the world of the Power Rangers. Superpowered humans. A giant floating head. Easily excitable robots. The long-standing legacy the heroes had. The idea of ever becoming a Ranger had been so far beyond his wildest dreams, he still wasn't sure he was awake.

That is, until the crash.

The sound of metal bending and screeching seared through Bryan's helmet as he yelped and stepped on the gas. He was attempting to dock his Triceratops Dinozord with the T-Rex, but his attempt had failed.

Aiden spoke through Bryan's helmet. _"Stay focused, Ranger Blue. Watch the targeting system and make adjustments as necessary."_

"Easy for you to say," he muttered as he tried again. Unfortunately, he wasn't very adept at making minor adjustments, as he constantly over-corrected and crashed into the T-Rex Zord's knee at the wrong angle, causing that horrifying screech of warping metal. "Oh, come on!" he yelled. He had to get this! What if he couldn't drive the Zord? Would that mean they'd kick him off the team?

Bryan's freaked out daydream was interrupted by alarms blaring. "What?!" he demanded. "What did I do now?"

"Nothing," Aiden said as the simulation shut down around Bryan. The new Blue Ranger jumped from the simulator cockpit to see Aiden had turned the exercise off, but the alarm was still going. "That's the monster alert. We need to get back to the main room. Let's go."

Bryan's heart jumped in his chest. Was this it? His first battle as the Blue Ranger? He took a deep breath and ran for the door.

* * *

 **Location: Sierra Pelona Mountains, California**

 _ **The Command Center**_

Bryan raced in just behind Aiden, but immediately began to feel a little conspicuous as the only one morphed. He considered demorphing, but that didn't make sense with the alarms going off. He tried to ignore his self-consciousness for now as he turned to the others.

Aiden was watching the viewing globe expectantly. He was a Korean guy, muscular and fit (though that part was true of all the Rangers), with short black hair spiked in the front and brown eyes hidden behind thick glasses. Aiden was always so calm and collected. He took charge when he needed to, but stayed back when necessary. He was smart and a good leader... which made Bryan wonder why he _wasn't_ the leader.

Standing next to him was Thuy, Aiden's pick for the Yellow Ranger. The daughter of Chinese and Vietnamese martial artist immigrants, Thuy was a very focused and disciplined woman. Aiden had selected both Thuy and Bryan from the martial arts studio where they all study, though Terri was miles ahead of either of them. She was always quiet, and never seemed to miss anything.

The others began to arrive one-by-one in flashes of color. First was Kerri, the new Pink Ranger. Serious minded, Kerri was first in line to be Valedictorian, always voted "Most Likely to Succeed," and tended to take everything seriously. She was popular with the guys, admired for her blonde hair and careful attention to her appearance, but her priority was always her mission, whether that was school, work, or martial arts. Jake met her through their dojo, and they had been friends for years.

A few moments passed before Pirantishead's image appeared on the screen. He was rampaging through town and sending machines flying, generally causing chaos across the city. "Great," Aiden muttered. "I was kind of hoping Zedd had destroyed him for his failure." The last part of the sentence was delivered in a deep, pseudo-menacing voice, like he was mocking the forces of evil. Bryan chuckled under his helmet. "Where are the others?" Aiden asked.

"They should be on their way soon," Billy said. "They received the alert. They're probably just looking for a place to teleport privately."

Aiden nodded before turning to Bryan. "Demorph for now. Better to conserve your energy."

Bryan mentally slapped himself. "Uh, right. Power down!" The suit shattered around him, falling off in shards and vanishing. Bryan still felt conspicuous, but shrugged it off as he looked around the room at the others. Bryan had short, curly black hair that was shaved very close, and his very dark skin contrasted the light blue t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. He never really saw himself as much of a fighter, since he enjoyed martial arts for the discipline and camaraderie. Still, Aiden must have seen something in him, right?

Everyone turned when a flash of brilliant green light indicated Ty's arrival. Ty, or Tyler, was another friend of Jake's, and another attendee of his dojo, which was pretty much the running theme for recruitment. Then again, where better to find superheroes specializing in hand-to-hand combat than a dojo? Ty had short brown hair, all spiked up. His green eyes were bright (though it was really more his expression than the eyes themselves) and he always had a smile on his face. Ty was kind of a 'bubbly' sort, liked to crack jokes and loved superhero comics. According to Jake, when the offer to become a Ranger was extended, Ty couldn't say yes fast enough. It made Bryan wonder if Ty knew what he was getting into.

Finally, a flash of red light brought forth their field leader, Jake. Jake was a tall, imposing sort, and reminded Bryan a lot of the first Red Ranger, Jason, who he'd seen in the Command Center archives. He also looked a lot like Troy, the Red Mega Ranger. Athletic, brown hair parted on the side with a small, well-groomed tuft hanging over his forehead. Dressed in a red and white athletic jacket, Jake was a star athletic something or other at school. Wasn't really Bryan's cup of tea, honestly, but the guy was pretty well-known. Jake was a bit of a hothead and somewhat stubborn, and Bryan was a bit nervous about working with him. But he was going to follow every order to the letter and hopefully everything would be okay.

"What's going on?" Jake asked.

"Pirantishead is back," Aiden explained. "Doesn't look like he's calmed down much, either."

"Let's get out there," Jake said, reaching behind his back.

Zordon's booming voice stopped the group cold and they all turned to look. "Be careful, Rangers. Pirantishead's flute allows him to take control of mechanical devices. He is not to be underestimated."

"Yeah," Bryan piped up. "In the original battle against the first Rangers, Pirantishead nearly destroyed all their zords and turned the T-Rex and Dragonzords against them." He suddenly felt self-conscious again, but he knew his information was good. "They, uh, had to upgrade the zords to defeat them."

"Don't worry too much about that," Billy said reassuringly. "Your zords are much stronger than the original zords were. Ranger tech has come a long way in the last few decades." He smiled slightly, then gave a small nod to Jake.

Jake turned to the others. "Let's do this. It's Morphin' Time!"

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove**

"Hey, Cod-for-Brains!" Ty yelled as the Rangers arrived on the scene. Civilians had mostly fled from the area, and the monster turned his attention to the multicolored superheroes in the street. "I thought sea life was paci _fish_ tic!"

The entire team and the monster stopped to stare at Ranger Green. "Did you seriously just say that?" Jake admonished.

"Less talking, more punching!" Aiden said. The others returned their focus to Pirantishead who began firing energy blasts from his fish flute thing. Jake, Aiden, and Kerri rolled out of the way, but Bryan and Thuy took the hit, sending them flying back several feet.

"You guys okay?" Kerri asked.

"Fine," Bryan said, jumping back to his feet. He couldn't make mistakes. He had to be more careful!

"Attack!" Jake yelled. Four Rangers rushed forward, weapons in hand while Ranger Pink began firing energy arrows rapidly at the monster. Pirantishead dodged most, but took a light hit on the final arrow before the others arrived. Bryan's Power Lance and Aiden's Power Axe slammed down on the monster hard, but his tough scales took the hit for him. With a push, Pirantishead shoved the two Rangers back, leaving him open to Jake and Thuy's approach. Ranger Yellow's daggers were now attached to metal chains which she swung around, netting several quick strikes on the monster. She pulled the chains in allowing Jake's jump attack with his sword. The blow was glancing, and for all his effort, Jake was rewarded with a swift kick that sent him across the street.

The battle continued for a few more minutes with the Rangers making little headway. "Why is he so much stronger this time?" Jake demanded. "It only took two of us to beat him before."

"Maybe Zedd souped him up," Bryan replied.

"Should we try the tactic from last time?" Aiden asked. "If you guys can keep him distracted long enough..."

"If he _is_ souped up, it probably won't work. Plus, he's wise to it now. Still, I don't have a better idea..." Thuy's voice trailed off.

Everyone looked to Jake. "Alright, let's go."

"For this to work," Aiden added, "he needs to be completely distracted while I get into position and charge up the attack." The Rangers rolled out of the way of a blast, splitting them up a little. "Kerri, I'll need rapid fire cover, even if he blocks most of it. Keep his attention."

Jake shot Aiden a look he could see even through his helmet. Aiden held his hands up briefly in surrender before privately saying in Jake's helmet, "Sorry, this is your show." With that, he ran around the back of the monster. Kerri started firing arrows rapidly. Most glanced off, but it was keeping the monster's attention. The other Rangers kept making all-out attacks that often got them knocked around, but the monster never noticed Aiden's relocation to a nearby rooftop. He cocked the sliding grip of his Power Axe and allowed it to charge, a low whine emitting from the weapon. "C'mon," he said impatiently to no one while the other Rangers fought on. After what seemed like forever, the axe was ready. "Now guys!" Aiden shouted into the radio. The team simultaneously backed off the monster, and in the next instant, Aiden released a blast of chilling energy that enveloped Pirantishead. He screeched and struggled, but ultimately succumbed to the ice, freezing completely.

Knowing he had to hurry, Aiden leapt from the rooftop with his weapon in axe mode, and slammed down on the monster's head with every bit of force he could muster. Simultaneously, twin daggers, twin lances, a Dragon Dagger, a sword, and several arrows struck the monster, shattering the ice violently. The explosion from the monster sent Aiden flying into a nearby pawnshop, but the damage to himself was minimal. The pawn shop was in need of repair, but that was already an issue before the fight started.

Bryan ran to Aiden and gave him a hand up, pulling him from the shattered display window of the store. "Nice!" he said, patting Aiden on the back.

"Thanks," Aiden replied before the two ran to the rest of the team. "We did it! Our first big battle as a team and..."

"MOVE!" The voice was Adam's, and it was in everyone's helmets. The team uttered various sounds of confusion for a few moments before Adam started yelling again. "MOVE NOW! GET BACK!"

The team instinctively began running away from the site, only to be rocked by a moderately powerful explosion and a loud groaning sound. As the Rangers turned to look, Pirantishead was back and larger than life.

"Oh! ...ohhh," was all Bryan could muster.

"Oh man, these guys look even bigger in real life."

"We gotta call the Dinozords!" Thuy yelled.

Jake held up a hand. "No, if we do that, we're putting everyone at risk. Pirantishead might take control of them."

That realization sank in for the other Rangers, who suddenly felt very deflated.

"Billy, is there anything we can do to prevent this thing from taking our zords away?" Bryan asked. Any clue, any idea could be of help.

Billy's voice came back over the radio. _"The zords should be fine. Emphasis on should. They're installed with similar technology as the jamming system I used to free the zords before. Theoretically there shouldn't be any problems."_

"That's a lot of unsure words there, Billy," Jake said.

"We have to try," Ty pointed out.

"Let's try something else first. That roof, go!" Jake yelled. The group ran and leapt straight into the air landing on the roof of the nearby bank tower. "Use your Blade Blasters!" The Rangers removed the baton-like devices from their holsters, moving the handles down and pushing the top forward to form a gun. "Go for the eyes!"

Pirantishead at this point was stomping anything he could, and had already taken out several buildings. The multicolored laser beams struck the creature's eyes with deadly precision... but there was no effect. The Rangers fired repeatedly, but it simply wasn't working.

"We need to call the zords!" Aiden said.

But Jake was sticking to his guns. "No, we can't risk it. If he takes control of the zords, we're looking at the end of everything."

"Don't be so dramatic," Kerri said.

Aiden chimed in. "We need a plan. If we can beat him fast enough, we may not have to worry about it."

"Yeah, we need the zords!" Ty said.

"NO! And that's final! Keep firing! Pink and Black, switch to your primary weapons!"

Sighing, the group continued their assault, leaping from building to building. But Pirantishead kept going, and barely even seemed to notice the group was there.

"Enough is enough," Thuy said, exasperated. "We need to call the zords now!"

Jake remained firm, however. "Stop questioning me and keep shooting! Find a better angle, look for a better target, something!"

Bryan opened a channel to everyone except Jake. "How much longer are we going to do this?"

Ty was arguing with Jake at this point, even shoving him. "We're not accomplishing anything!"

Jake shoved him back. "We would be if you'd listen!"

Aiden suddenly piped up. "Ty, keep him busy. Keep him arguing. Don't let him notice we're gone. I have a plan. Rangers Yellow, Blue, and Pink, you're with me." Aiden bolted away while Jake's back was turned, and the other Rangers followed suit, leaping from the top of the building to the ground below. "You guys ready? Because we need Dinozord power now!"

* * *

Jake was still arguing with Ty when he saw it happen. The Mastodon Zord was rolling up from behind the monster. Before Pirantishead could notice, however, the Pterodactyl flew down from the front, lasers blazing. The blows annoyed Pirantishead and he tried to swat the Pink Ranger's zord away. As the zord began to circle around for another strafing run, Pirantishead brought the flute to his lips and fired gray beams of energy from it. Kerri expertly dodged, but it was close. As the monster prepared another attempt, Bryan charged in, firing the Triceratops's horns and knocking the flute from the monster's hands.

"Great shot Bryan!" Thuy said as the Sabertooth Tiger zord appeared on the scene.

"What are you doing?!" Jake demanded. "I didn't authorize you to-"

"Put a cork in it," Ty said. "You made a bad call. Get over it."

Before Jake could argue, the Mastodon had crawled up right behind the monster. "Let's do this!" Aiden yelled as he slammed his fist down on a large blue button. The trunk of the zord fired a blue beam of chilling energy, one much larger than his axe. The monster attempted to turn around, but the chains from the Triceratops zord held him in place as the ice crawled slowly up the fish's body. He yelled out, but there wasn't much he could do. As Bryan disengaged the Triceratops' horns from the monster, the ice completely enveloped the creature, keeping it locked in place.

"NOW!" Aiden yelled.

Pink laser beams fired from the Pterodactyl, and a bright yellow bolt of energy emitted from the tail of the Sabertooth Tiger. Bryan fired the horns once again and the combined attacks shattered the monster into a million pieces.

The Rangers breathed a sigh of relief as they slumped back in their chairs. "Oh man," Bryan said. "How many more times do you think that ice tactic will work?"

The group in the zords laughed. "I'm surprised it worked this many times. Zedd's monsters are pretty damn dumb."

Thuy looked out the window of her zord. "I think Jake's pretty mad..."

* * *

 **Location: Command Center**

"You directly disobeyed my orders!" Jake raged. "You could have endangered everyone!"

"You _were_ endangering everyone!" Thuy shot back. "Every second we weren't in the battle, another building or car was attacked!"

The Rangers yelled at each other back and forth, though Bryan stayed back. This was getting too personal.

"That's not your place to decide!"

"From what I've seen, it's not yours, either!"

"Someone has to lead this team!"

"And you think that someone is you? Being in red doesn't make you a leader!"

" **ENOUGH.** " Zordon's voice once again stopped the group cold. Billy and Kat looked on, waiting to see what he would say. "Jake, the place of a leader is indeed to make difficult decisions, but it is not enough to solely order others around. Your team had a plan you refused to listen to, and you allowed your pride to take over, leading to a severe tactical error. When your plan didn't work, you should have listened to your team."

Jake grit his teeth as he listened. "Fine. I'll remember that for next time." He didn't sound particularly sincere, but Bryan could see his face turning flush with embarrassment.

"You misunderstand," Zordon continued. "There will not be a next time. It is easy to see you have lost the confidence of your team." Jake looked around to see the group looking at him with a mixture of contempt and pity. "If your team has no faith in your orders, your effectiveness will severely drop. This simply cannot happen. I'm afraid I have no choice but to revoke your leadership of the Power Rangers."

The looks on everyone's faces changed to surprise. They hadn't expected such a harsh punitive action, even if it was deserved and needed. "You are not losing your place on this team, but you simply cannot lead it."

The Command Center went silent. Jake's face became even more flush as he felt the eyes of everyone on him. His own mother was standing there staring with pity in her eyes.

The Rangers stood in silence for what seemed like forever before Zordon continued speaking. "Your team does need a leader, however, and it is your choice who that is, Rangers."

The silence returned as no one wanted to say anything. Bryan didn't want to add insult to injury by talking like Jake wasn't even there. But no one spoke. Everyone was avoiding eye contact. How much longer could this go on?

Finally, Bryan broke the silence. "Look, I know I'm the new guy and I'm not sure if you guys really want me to...you know."

"You're as much a member of this team as any of us," Ty said. "Your opinion counts."

Bryan took a deep breath. "I honestly think Aiden's the best choice. I've known him a long time and he's always been the kind of guy who knows how to make a decision. And the plan to defeat the monster today was his. Both plans were, actually. Even though they were the same plan. You know, on different scales." He was babbling. "Um, anyway, I vote Aiden."

The rest of the team, save Aiden and Jake, nodded solemnly.

"Is this your decision then?" Zordon asked.

The group nodded.

"And Aiden, do you accept?"

Aiden looked conflicted. He turned to Jake, whose eyes were still trained on the ground before looking at the others. He wanted to ask if they were sure, but it would have been redundant. He looked back to Zordon. "For as long as they'll have me, I accept," he said simply. He looked at Jake again, who still hadn't moved.

"Very well. Aiden, you will be the new Red Ranger, and you will lead-"

"Wait, what?!" Aiden demanded. "I mean- no disrespect intended Zordon, but do I have to switch powers? I like my weapon. I like my zord. I don't see why I can't lead in black."

Zordon paused a moment then seemed to look at Billy and Kat. They both gave a slight nod before he turned back to the Rangers. "Very well, Black Ranger. You will be the team's leader in the field. May the Power protect you."

There was another pause for a few seconds, as nobody really felt like celebrating. Jake finally looked up and walked to a console. He hit a few buttons, then vanished in a bolt of red energy.

"Let him go," Aiden said before anyone could protest. "He just needs time. We all do. We should probably get some rest."

Each of the other Rangers gave Aiden a small congratulations before teleporting away. Finally, Bryan walked up to their new leader. "Do you think things will be okay with Jake?"

Aiden sighed. "It was a hard lesson to learn. But if he can move past it and still be our teammate, I think we'll be alright." He looked up from the floor at Bryan and smiled. "You did great today, by the way. Welcome to the team."

Bryan smiled as he teleported home.

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove - Aiden's Home**

"Can you still work with him?" Adam asked his son as they sat down to dinner.

Aiden pushed the rice around on his plate with his fork. "I hope so. He took it pretty hard. Jake's the kind of guy whose pride is wounded pretty easily, I think. Still-" Aiden was interrupted by his communicator vibrating and playing the little tune. The red lights were flashing. "It's him," Aiden said, standing up from the table. "I'll be back." Adam nodded as Aiden walked into his room.

"Hey Jake," Aiden said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Jake said over the device. "I'm fine. Look, I don't want to have a big touchy-feely conversation with you, but... I just want you to know that I'm with you. I'm not happy, but I'm still a part of this team and I'll do as you say."

"I understand," Aiden said. "Thanks." The line went dead.

Aiden sighed. "We're a team, one way or another..." He looked out his window at the moon. "Better we fight Zedd than each other."


	3. History

_Author's Note: I don't actually have anything to say, but without an A/N, the Chapter line gets pushed to the left and looks weird._

 **Chapter 3  
** _History_

 **Location: Angel Grove, California**

"I'm telling you guys, every team does it. Every single one." Ty was blathering about as the group walked toward a new "Youth Center" that was opening a few miles from Angel Grove High. It seemed like an outdated concept, but it was somewhere for the team to go together. "It's badass, and I think we should try it."

Bryan cocked an eyebrow. "Okay, you're not wrong about how every team does it... well, I take that back, I never saw the RPM Rangers do it. But even if they did, why? What makes this a good idea?"

Ty was trying to get the Rangers to agree to a "roll call," where the Rangers shout out their names and/or colors and/or dinosaurs before going into battle against a monster. His reasoning had bounced around from claiming it would be good for morale, to the potential benefits of such "good marketing" for their "Ranger brand." Aiden was barely paying attention, Thuy was completely ignoring him, and Kerri was rolling her eyes so hard as to cause brain damage. Only Bryan was taking the time to argue with him on the silly topic.

Jake wasn't there. In the last few weeks since his demotion, he hadn't spent much time with the other Rangers off the battlefield. Ty and Kerri had tried to talk him into being more active with the group socially, but their support for Aiden had pushed Jake away apparently. Jake had even stopped attending classes at the dojo, instead preferring to train on his own in his backyard.

"Can we put a pin in this... discussion for a few minutes?" Aiden asked. "We're here." Up ahead was a large older building with white walls and an orange roof. Near the door was a round logo with a glass of juice in the center. "Angel Grove Youth Center - Gym and Juice Bar."

"I guess it's not so much a hangout spot as a café and gym," Thuy said, her first words since the group got together.

"This building has been empty for as long as I can remember," Ty mused. "Looks like someone finally bought it. I wonder what it used to be."

The group stepped through the glass doors into a bizarre combination of Starbucks, 24-Hour Fitness, and a cyber café. The main area of the first floor was a large open space with mats for wrestling and martial arts practice, with a few weight machines scattered around the perimeter. Next to that was the juice bar itself, a counter with seats around it and a few tables. Against the far corner from the doors was another door that led into the cyber café. About 15 high-powered gaming computers lined the room with a few people inside playing the latest MMOs.

The group walked upstairs to see a full gym with weight machines, free weights, treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes. Locker rooms were in the back of that floor.

"Wow. This place is nice," Aiden said to no one in particular.

"Yeah, someone went all out," Kerri agreed. "Let's go grab a snack, I'm starving."

The group headed back downstairs and to the bar area. They each grabbed a stool and Aiden rang the bell for service. The place was mostly empty (it had only opened two days ago), but it seemed to be getting steady business. While they were looking around, the owner appeared. "Can I take your order?"

The group turned in shock at the sound of the Australian accent. Behind the bar stood Kat, one of their mentors and a former Pink Ranger. A few of the Rangers stammered for a few seconds before she handed each of them a menu. "My juice bar serves only the healthiest foods and drinks to facilitate your fitness goals. No gimmicks, just low-calorie foods with plenty of vitamins and minerals. Once you know what you want, ring the bell and I'll be back." She turned around and walked back into the kitchen, leaving the Rangers silently stumped.

* * *

 **Location: Oliver-Hillard Residence**

In the backyard of his home, surrounded by a massive 7-foot fence on all sides, Jake sliced forward with his Power Sword in a familiar kata he'd been doing for days. The weapon had truly become an extension of himself at this point, and in each battle he'd shown greater proficiency. Zedd was, so far, taking it relatively easy on them, only sending monsters occasionally to test them, it seemed. Still, Jake was to the point of being able to take out lots of Putties entirely on his own with just his sword.

Jake's phone chimed again. With a sigh, Jake dismissed the sword and wiped his face and hands with the towel hanging around his bare shoulders before grabbing his phone. He had several unread (or more accurately, ignored) texts from the same few people.

KERRI: We're going to check out that new Youth Center after school. You should come with.

TY: Where do you stand on the role call issue?

KERRI: We're about to head to the Youth Center. See you there?

TY: I don't think anyone else is agreeing with me on the roll call thing. But you're with me right?

KERRI: Your MOM runs this place? WTH?

TY: You never told me your mom owned the Youth Center!

BRYAN: Dude, just saw your mom working the Juice Bar. She's a good cook, right?

Jake sighed once more before putting the phone down. There was a part of him that wanted to hang out with them, but there was a much bigger part that wanted to avoid them. It had been weeks since his demotion and it was still weighing on him. He felt humiliated then, but it was even worse now that he had time to think about it. In that battle with Pirantishead, he'd refused to call the zords not because it was the right tactical decision to make (he didn't even think it was at the time), but because he had to be right. Like he was trying to prove himself or something. He had this crazy idea in this head that leaders should be incapable of making bad decisions and he had to defend his decisions in order to make sure they weren't wrong.

Clearly, the concept of being a good leader had eluded him. That had cost him not just his position as leader, but also the trust of his team. Still, they kept trying to include him in their activities outside of school, but he couldn't face them. All he could do was keep training until he was powerful enough that he could regain their respect again, even if it wasn't as a leader.

Setting the phone down, Jake summoned his Power Sword once again and returned to his kata.

* * *

 **Location: Command Center**

"It's no use," Billy said, slumping in his chair. "The Command Center's sensors can't penetrate Zedd's moon palace. We have no idea what's going on up there."

Tommy slammed a fist into his other hand. "Rrgh. This doesn't make any sense. Zedd was always so vain. He loved grandstanding whenever he got the chance. Why the silence? He hasn't once threatened us or the Rangers directly."

"He must be biding his time for something," Adam said. "Playing the long game. He lost last time. It makes sense that he'd be more careful now. We just have to wait for..."

The alarms started blaring in the Command Center. "...the other shoe to drop," Adam finished, sounding deflated.

* * *

 **Location: Oliver-Hillard Residence**

Jake was halfway through his kata when his Communicator went off. He dismissed the Power Sword and wiped the sweat from his face again before responding. "Go ahead."

 _"Jake, my sensors tell me there's a disturbance in the park,"_ Zordon said. _"Zedd has sent a squad of Putties to attack civilians. Morph to the park immediately. The other Rangers are on their way."_

"On my way," Jake said quickly. "It's Morphin' Time! Tyrannosaurus!"

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove Youth Center**

"Got it, we're on our way," Aiden said before dropping the line to the Command Center. "Let's go guys."

"Go to the bathroom," Katherine said.

The rest of the group turned around to look at her. "Wait, what?" Kerri asked.

"Go to the bathroom and enter the door to the construction area. Do it now." With that, she walked back into the kitchen.

The Rangers looked at each other, shrugged, and ran to the bathrooms. As Rangers Pink and Yellow entered the women's restrooms, Aiden and the others entered the Men's restroom and looked around. At the far end of the sinks was a door labeled "Under Construction Do Not Enter." Aiden walked to it and put his hand on the handle to open it. There was a quiet hum, then a beep as the door unlocked and allowed Aiden to enter, the other Rangers following suit.

They entered a dark room, the only other source of light being the other side where Kerri and Thuy entered. As soon as both doors closed, the room lit up, revealing sparse furniture and a large screen, like a huge movie room.

Without warning, Zordon's face appeared on the screen. "Rangers."

All five Rangers yelped and took a step back in surprise. "Jeez, a little warning next time?" Bryan complained.

"Be very careful when fighting these putties," Zordon warned. "Our spot analysis indicates they are not as easily defeated as Zedd's old putties. They're made of solid stone and no longer are vulnerable to chest strikes. You must battle them while morphed. Now go, and may the Power protect you." Zordon's face vanished from the screen.

Aiden looked to the others. "Ready?" he cried. "It's morphin time!"

"Dragonzord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-tooth Tiger!"

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove Park**

"Rangers Blue and Yellow, get civilians to safety!" Aiden ordered. "Ranger Pink, find some altitude and start sniping. The rest of you, into the fray!" The group obeyed without question and rushed into their roles. As the Rangers scattered, they found themselves surrounded by Zedd's new Putties. No longer the soft, gray clay-like creatures, these Putties were more like Rockies, appearing to be built from solid stone. Unfortunately, they were just as agile as their predecessors, able to make quick strikes that could knock a Ranger back.

Aiden punched several of the Putties, but while his enhanced strikes had some effect, he was only able to inflict minor damage. His kicks did a little better to knock them down, but they just got back up again. "Power Ax!" he shouted, the weapon materializing in his hand. He pushed the handle forward and fired his ice beams, freezing the Putties in place. "That wasn't so hard," he muttered, preparing to strike them down. However, the Putties began to grow red-hot and melted the ice fast, the burst of heat actually managing to hurt Aiden through his suit. He yelped and jumped back, barely avoiding a strike from one of the thawed Putties. Opting for the direct approach this time, he began to strike them with his Ax.

The other Rangers were faring about the same. Physical strikes weren't working so well, and their Blade Blasters weren't having much of an effect. All they could do is attack using their Power Weapons, and even that took a long time. It sped up when Ty discovered that playing the Dragon Dagger could shatter the Putties if the note was sustained long enough. Overlal, it was at least a ten-minute battle before the last Putty fell to Bryan's Power Lance.

The Rangers regrouped, breathing heavily. "That was _brutal_!" Ty remarked.

"Did we get them all?" Thuy asked, looking around.

As if in response, a ball of flame appeared from the sky erupting into an imposing figure. Clad in gold armor with the face of an ape with red eyes, and massive wings extending outwards from his back, it stood with a sword in hand and a menacing look on its face.

"Rangers, you didn't expect _me_ , did you? My master Lord Zedd has brought me back to life to destroy you Power Pukes! AHAHAHAHA!"

"Bryan, is that...?" Aiden asked quietly.

Bryan nodded without realizing it. "That's Goldar. Rita and Zedd's general. He's just as mouthy now as he was in the videos."

Goldar's attention shifted toward the Green Ranger. "Tommy! You're back in Green! I can't wait to take your powers away again! AHAHAHAHA!"

"I really don't see what's so funny," Kerri said.

"No one say anything out loud," Aiden hissed. "Don't let on that we're not the original Rangers."

Goldar kept laughing for a few seconds before returning his attention to the whole group. "What's the matter, Rangers? No threats? No over-the-top monologues where you tell us your color and dinosaur?" The group gave Ty the side eye for a moment before returning their attention to Goldar. "No matter! I will destroy you for my master, and he will-"

Goldar's grandstanding was interrupted by a laser blast that sent him flying backwards. Jake holstered his Blade Blaster and looked to Aiden, who gave him a slight nod. "Attack!" Aiden hissed to the others over their radio. All six Rangers summoned their Power Weapons again and went into battle against Goldar. The alien ape was back on his feet already, blocking the strikes with his sword and occasionally striking back, first hitting Ty, then Kerri, sending them to the ground. Goldar's flaming sword kept Aiden's ice attacks at bay while he used his other hand to pick up Jake and toss him into Thuy, who was advancing for an attack of her own. He then powered up his flame attack and overpowered Aiden's Ax, dropping him to the ground in a burst of fire. Bryan rushed in with his Lances and managed to get a few good strikes on Goldar's back. This only served to piss the Space Ape off, however, as he whipped around and sliced Bryan across the chest. With a yell, the Blue Ranger flew into a nearby fountain, the water cooling the burn marks on his suit.

Thuy grabbed Aiden and pulled him to his feet once Goldar's back was turned. Guiding him backward out of Goldar's immediate range, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Aiden said, struggling to regain his footing. "Kerr- Pink, how's Blue doing?"

Kerri ran to Bryan who was struggling to get out of the fountain. "I'm okay," Bryan said himself. "I've been better, but I'm okay."

"Anyone got a plan?" Kerri asked as the group circled around the imposing Goldar. "I'm open to suggestions myself."

"We could try the Power Blaster," Thuy suggested.

"I've been looking forward to that," Ty said. "Billy said it was the most powerful weapon in our arsenal."

"What's the matter, Rangers? Lost your edge after all these years?" Goldar laughed "I'm still the most powerful warrior in the universe!"

"Okay, let's shut him up," Aiden said. "Power Ax!"

"Power Bow!"

"Power Daggers!"

"Power Lance!"

"Power Sword!"

One by one, the Rangers threw their weapons above Goldar's head, forming the Power Blaster. Aiden leapt into the air, jumped again off Thuy's shoulders, and grabbed the blaster, flipping to the opposite side of Goldar. By the time Goldar managed to turn around, the blaster was pointed right at him, with the four core Rangers standing beside it. The Green Ranger stood behind them all, Dragon Dagger in hand.

"Let's test how powerful he is," Aiden said. "FIRE!"

Aiden pulled the trigger on the blaster, which emitted five powerful beams of energy. From behind, Ty played a single note continuously on his Dragon Dagger. The sound waves, appearing as a tube of green energy, twisted around the blast, rotating it from a wide-dispersion of five energy beams into a more condensed quadruple helix form.

The beam struck Goldar, sending him flying straight back in a shower of sparks, screaming.

Triumphant, the Rangers started cheering as Aiden lowered the Power Blaster. "Did we get him?!" Ty demanded.

"I doubt it," Aiden answered cynically. Sure enough, Goldar stood up once again, shaky, armor scratched up, and clearly disoriented. He muttered something about it not being over yet before vanishing from sight.

Ty plopped down on his butt. "Whew! It's over for now."

Right on cue, dark storm clouds started rolling in over the Rangers' heads. Lighting flickered in the distance, and thunderclaps reverberated from all directions. "You _had_ to say something, didn't you?" Jake said, breaking his sustained silence.

Lightning struck the ground feet in front of them. Instinctively, the Rangers backed away, Aiden keeping the Power Blaster locked on the site in front of him. When the smoke cleared...

...there he stood. Red muscle. Silver exoskeleton. Tubes carrying unknown fluid all over his body.

The silence was deafening as each Ranger struggled to say something, but fell short. It was Zedd himself. The big bad. One of the most powerful entities in the universe. And he just radiated evil. An evil that could be felt through their suits and helmets.

"It really is hard to find good help these days," Zedd said casually, though his voice echoed and sent shivers down the spines of everyone within range. "So, the old Rangers selected new brats to take up the helmets." The Rangers remained frozen in defensive stances, not saying a word. "Oh, so you're keeping your identities secret this time? Well, no matter. I know you're not Tommy, Green Ranger. I recognize his fighting style anywhere. Oh Tommy!" Zedd called out mockingly. "I know you can hear me! Haven't you missed me after all these years?" He laughed, and the Rangers felt even more paralyzed by his very presence.

"Well, let's get right to it. I know where your Command Center is. Your little invisibility shield was clever, but not good enough. And with Zordon gone, I can blow it up with a flick of my wrist. I don't suppose you could offer any reason why I shouldn't?"

The Rangers had absolutely nothing to say to Zedd. He knew where the Command Center was. He'd blown it up before. What would stop him now?

"You're not the only one back from the dead." The Rangers jerked their heads skyward to see an image of Zordon's head, as if he were made of clouds speaking directly to their enemy.

"Zordon?!" Zedd demanded.

"You haven't changed, Zedd. You're still the same overconfident, egotistical megalomaniac you've always been."

"Don't lecture me, Eltarian!" Zedd snapped back. "I _will_ own this planet, whether you are on it or not!"

Zordon laughed. Actually laughed.

It was scarier than Zedd.

"You won't defeat the Power Rangers. You've never managed to do so before, and you won't now."

"We'll see about that, Zordon! And Rangers, watch your backs! Your time is coming to an end!" In an angry yell, Zedd vanished in a bolt of lightning. The Rangers started breathing again.

* * *

 **Location: Command Center**

"What are we going to do?" Kerri demanded. "He knows where the Command Center is. Do we have the defenses to keep him from just blasting us sky high?"

"Arguably," Billy said. "Our defense systems are stronger than they've ever been. But Zedd won't attempt it. Not now."

"What?" Jake asked incredulously. "Why?"

"Zordon," Bryan said abruptly. "You guys read the files, right? When Zordon's plasma tube was shattered during the big invasion in the late '90s, it unleashed a wave of good energy that eliminated or purified all of the evil forces. If Zedd were to blow up the Command Center now that Zordon's back..."

"...it would be Game Over for him," Aiden finished. "Our base is safe, at least for the moment."

Ty looked at Zordon. "If Zedd had fought us, right then, right there... I mean, could we have won, Zordon? Do we stand a chance?"

Zordon paused a moment before answering. "Rangers, you know I have the utmost faith in your abilities and dedication. However, you are still new, and have a long way to go to reach Lord Zedd's level." The Rangers looked at each other nervously. "While I can't say for certain what would have happened, I can say with all the confidence in the universe that you will defeat Zedd one day and restore peace to this planet. You have already made me very proud, Rangers, and I know you will continue to thrive."

"Go get some rest," Billy said. "Head back to Kat's Juice Bar and have some food on me." He smiled.

The Rangers began to program the coordinates into their Communicators. Ty, Kerri, Bryan, and Thuy vanished.

Aiden walked over to Jake and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You coming?" Jake didn't respond.

"You know, this team wouldn't exist without you, right?" Aiden asked. "It took both of us to form it, selecting great people to fill out the suits and powers. The mistake you made is in the past. We don't think less of you. In fact, we think more of you because you've maintained dignity and teamwork through what was obviously a very difficult time. But we are still a team, and you are still a member of this team. We want you around. Hang with us. Train with us. Work with us."

There was a brief pause while Jake mulled everything over. A small smile began to form on his face. "Alright, let's go. I mean, after I go home and put a shirt on." Aiden grinned and slapped Jake on the back before the teleporter engaged, sending the two away. Five minutes later, Jake arrived at the Juice Bar as they were being served their drinks. The group laughed, ate, drank, and talked well into the evening until they all went their separate ways.

* * *

 **Location: Hillard-Oliver Residence**

"How was it?" Tommy asked as Jake returned home. "You were out late. Does that mean you're finally back with the team?"

Jake cocked an eyebrow. "I never _left_ the team, Dad. I just...needed some time to think things through. But yeah, I think everything's good."

Tommy smiled. "Alright, that's what I like to hear."

"I got some homework to take care of," Jake said. "I'll see you later." With that, he went upstairs.

Tommy sat on the couch for a few more minutes before turning off the TV. He went to his bedroom and opened up a safe under his bed. He reached into it and gently lifted two wrist-mounted devices - his Zeonizers. He stared at them for a few seconds before putting them away. "Hopefully it doesn't get that desperate," he said, putting the safe away.


	4. In or Out

_A/N: Don't mess with Kerri. She'll stab you with her diploma._

 **Chapter 4  
** _In or Out_

 **Location: Angel Grove**

"You want me to do _what_ now?" Kerri demanded, arms folded.

Jake sighed. "I'm building a team. A team of... crime fighters. I want you on it."

"Crime fighters?" Kerri said skeptically. "Like... you want me to wear spandex?"

"No!" Jake said. "...yes. But no. Not... augh!" Jake was getting frustrated. He looked around Kerri's living room as if he was expecting someone to appear and listen in on their conversation. "Look, I just... I'm recruiting you. I want you to be a Power Ranger."

Kerri started laughing. "A Power Ranger?! Are you serious? You want me to believe that you're a Power Ranger?!" She laughed more.

In frustration, Jake dropped his head onto the back of the couch behind him. He stared at the ceiling with a sigh. "I better not get in trouble for this..." he muttered before standing up. He pulled out his morpher and pushed the button, opening the front plates. "Tyrannosaurus!" he shouted. In a brilliant flash of light, Kerri was staring at the Red Ranger.

"Wh-huh? Y-you just... and... so you're... what?!"

"Yes, Kerri, I _am_ a Power Ranger. I'm building a team to lead into battle against the monsters attacking the planet. I want you on it." He produced a gold coin embossed with the image of a Pterodactyl. "I want you to be my team's Pink Ranger."

Kerri stared blankly at the coin, eyes widening and breathing becoming heavier. He wanted her to be a superhero? A _Power Ranger?!_ Her? What did it mean? Was this what she had been looking for? A way to make a real difference?

Without thinking, she began to reach for the coin. Before she touched it however, Jake pulled his hand back, closing his fist around the coin. "Before you agree, there is one thing. Being a Ranger is going to be hard. Your grades will suffer. Your social life will be gone. Being a Ranger will consume a _lot_ of time." Kerri looked at him blankly, like she didn't fully grasp what he was saying.

Jake demorphed. "Look at me, Kerri. Listen. You cannot be a Power Ranger _and_ Valedictorian. You just can't. If you take this coin, you're making the decision to be a Ranger above all else. The world will be depending on you. I'll be depending on you."

Kerri nodded, and Jake offered the coin once more. She took it quickly, staring at it deeply. _"This is unreal."_

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove High Study Lab**

 _Three Months Later..._

"Contention Three," Kerri muttered to herself as she typed the words frantically. "Presumed consent is just because it does not violate autonomy. Subsection A: Presumed consent is an opt-out system..." As she started to blank on the rest of the sentence, she looked up at the clock. Twenty minutes. She had only twenty minutes to finish. One contention, the closer, a couple of cards to support it... she could get it done. She just had to focus.

 _Focus._

"The need for parental consent... ends at 18 so the opt-out system would..." she grit her teeth as her sentences were getting more disorganized. This was the home stretch! She just had to finish the case for the debate tournament this weekend. She couldn't compete herself (Zedd was rather fond of attacking on Saturdays though his attacks had let up recently), but to make up for it she was helping to build multiple cases for the rest of the team. But to make the grade in the class, she needed this case done soon.

Her communicator vibrated, the white flashing lights indicating the source was the Command Center itself. Kerri stared, shocked, at the device. This was the worst possible time! She was so close! She looked around the room to confirm it was still empty before pressing the button. "This is Kerri."

" _Ai yai yai! Kerri, the Command Center has picked up an energy disturbance we can't pinpoint! We're gathering the team to investigate!"_

Kerri glanced up at the clock. "Okay... I just need a few minutes and I'll be right there, I swear."

" _Hurry!"_ Alpha yelped. The line went dead.

* * *

 **Location: Command Center**

"What's going on, Alpha? Where are the Veteran Rangers?" Aiden looked around as his team began to arrive one by one.

"Billy and your father are working in the basement while Katherine is at the Juice Bar," the little robot responded. "Tommy is stuck on detention duty at Reefside High."

"What's important is that you are here," Zordon said. "My sensors indicate a disturbance somewhere in Angel Grove Woods. Our scans aren't showing anything, however, and it's possible Lord Zedd is intentionally shielding the area from us."

"It's been two weeks since his last attack," Alpha commented. "In that time, Zedd may have been working on a very complicated spell."

"So we should go check it out," Aiden said.

"Rangers, this is most likely a trap," Zordon warned.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, but we don't have a ton of options."

"Stay alert," Zordon said, "and may the Power protect you."

"Hold on," Aiden interrupted, holding a hand up. "Where's Kerri?"

Alpha shuffled toward the group. "I contacted her, but she said she needed a few minutes, and that she would be here soon."

Aiden nodded. "I'm sure she wouldn't delay unless it was important," he said. Jake and Ty exchanged nervous glances. "Once she's ready, have her start exploring the woods, sticking to the trees. Everyone else, we're going to split up, but _be careful_. Contact us the moment you see or hear anything out of the ordinary. It's morphin' time!"

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove Woods**

Bryan wandered through the woods, carefully taking quiet steps and listening for any noises that were out of the ordinary. He couldn't help but feel nervous as he tiptoed along, just waiting to be ambushed by something monstrous.

The Angel Grove Woods were verdant and beautiful, overgrown with all manner of plant life. The sun filtered through the trees, the birds sang, a light breeze rustled the trees, and all of these things should have made Bryan feel more at ease. Yet despite his surroundings, he was thoroughly and utterly nervous.

It was fifteen minutes of apprehensive wandering before a call from Jake beeped inside his helmet, causing Bryan to jump. _"Found a monster,"_ he whispered harshly. _"Looks like a giant candle. Sending image and location."_ The image arrived first. The monster indeed looked like a white candle with a red base, but with the addition of arms and legs. Its face was menacing, but it looked like it was... meditating? What was it waiting for? Not that it mattered - if the monster wasn't ready, now was the perfect time for them to attack. A small map appeared in Bryan's HUD indicating where to go, so Ranger Blue took off for the designated location.

Once Bryan arrived, Jake put a finger to the sculpted mouthpiece on his helmet, indicating that he should be silent, before pointing toward the monster in the clearing. Bryan peered around a tree to take his first look at the monster. Putties were weirdly dancing around it, but just like in the image, the monster was sitting cross-legged, hands on its thighs, eyes closed, and just... absolutely still.

One by one the other Rangers arrived. Aiden looked like he was about to communicate something via charades when a message pinged in the Rangers' helmets. _"Rangers, it's Billy. Command Center sensors indicate a severe energy buildup in your location. We can't pinpoint it, but that monster's definitely causing it. It's probably building up energy for something. If you don't stop it now, there's no telling what it could do."_

Ranger Black nodded and produced his Power Axe without a word. The other Rangers followed suit, summoning their special weapons. Aiden held up three fingers.

Two fingers.

One finger.

Five Rangers leapt out of the woods into the clearing, their bladed weapons cleaving a putty in half each before turning their attention to another. Amid the kiais and explosions and chunks of stone falling to the ground, the monster remained unmoved. Within a minute, all the Putties were rubble. "Now!" Aiden yelled. The five Rangers charged the meditating monster... only to be stopped by an army of Putties that materialized right in front of them.

Almost a literal army. Zedd sent down thirty Putties at once that formed a wall between the Rangers and the monster.

Thuy grabbed two putties with her chains and yanked them to the ground. Two more appeared to take their place, blocking her from advancing.

Ty shattered four Putties with his dagger's music. In a flash of lightning, five more appeared where they had stood.

Aiden blasted the ground beneath the Putties with his axe, freezing the earth to make them slip. The fallen Putties were trampled by new ones to take their place.

Bryan impaled a Putty with his lance and was using it to ram his way through the others. A large group grabbed his legs, tripping him, and pulled him away from the monster despite his loud and angry protestations.

Jake's sword tore through Putty after Putty, but he couldn't make a hole to get through.

The defense was just too perfect. And as the Rangers fought, wearing themselves out, the monster opened its eyes and stood up. Bryan's eyes widened as he stabbed the ground with his lance to hold himself in place and kicked the Putties away. He stood to his feet only to be smothered by five Putties at once. Thuy attempted to grapple into the tree above to get an aerial advantage, but the Putties held on to her legs, dragging her down. Aiden's axe was knocked out of his hands. Ty and Jake's bull rush for the monster was repelled by a wall of stone monsters, like the world's most unfair game of Red Rover. As the Rangers continued to struggle, the comm went off in their helmets. _"Rangers!"_ Adam yelled. _"The oxygen in your area is falling rapidly! I think the monster is draining the area faster than it can be replaced!"_

The Rangers struggled, but made no headway. "Kerri, if you're there, now would be a _great_ time for your bow!" Aiden hissed into his helmet. He looked around frantically for any sign of pink in the trees.

Suddenly, the Putties let up and vanished. The Rangers, who had been pushing against them, stumbled forward after their hasty exit. They looked up at the monster, and without a moment's pause, charged him.

"Goodbye, Rangers," the monster simply said. Then the flame on its head lit.

* * *

 **Location: Command Center**

It was just a little flame. A small flame on the top of a candle. It was a wonder that it was visible on the screen. But Adam, Billy, Zordon, and Alpha 7 looked on in horror as that tiny flame wreaked absolute devastation. The moment it lit, a wave of intense heat emerged like a dome around the monster. Instants later, the Rangers were gone, as was a square mile of forest. Every tree, bird, grass, and insect was vaporized in less than a second. The surrounding trees should have been on fire, but the rapid consumption of oxygen ended the fire the moment the monster willed it. It was absolutely precise, perfect destruction.

Billy frantically replayed the video at the slowest rate he could. The dome of heat expanded from the monster and vaporized almost everything it touched. The trees just ceased to be as the wave passed. It picked up the Rangers and immolated them, then sent them flying in separate directions.

The monster looked around, pleased with its work, then vanished.

"Where are the Rangers?!" Zordon demanded.

Billy frantically threw holographic control panels about the room in a circle around himself. "Found Green... Blue... Yellow... Red... Black! All about two miles from the detonation site! Teleporting them back now!"

The bolts of energy that brought the Rangers back gave way to a searing heat that permeated the Command Center. Billy and Adam were almost knocked back by the painful inferno of hot air the Rangers were radiating. The kids were screaming in pain, and their suits were _literally starting to melt through the floor_. Adam bolted for the fire extinguisher while Billy yelled at the control panel. "Computer, send an alpha-level alert to Kat!" He continued flipping through screens and adjusting various controls while Adam attempted to cool down the Rangers any way he could.

"I could use a little help here Billy!" Adam yelled with a twinge of annoyance.

"Help's on its way," he said as Kat teleported in. "Kat, grab an extinguisher and put the Rangers out!" Billy continued to operate the main computer. "Those suits are the only things keeping them alive right now," he explained. "If they demorph, they'll catch fire. I'm trying refractorize the Morph waves to stabilize their connections to the Morphin Grid and vent some of the energy bursts to keep them in their suits." It was then that Tommy bolted in the door from the medical bay area and grabbed an extinguisher.

Ten minutes later, Billy was still struggling to keep the Rangers morphed. Kat, Tommy, and Adam had gone through every fire extinguisher in the Command Center, Billy's old foam gun from the early days, all the fire extinguishers in the Youth Center, and even the Command Center's fire suppression sprinklers. Finally the heat died down and the Rangers' cries started to calm. Aiden and Thuy stood up shakily, only for their suits to spark off excess energy, causing them to jerk in random directions before falling back down again.

"I can't keep those suits up much longer!" Billy yelled. "Get some protective gear and get them away from that area of the floor..."

It was right then that the Rangers passed out.

* * *

 **Location: Command Center Medical Bay**

"Jake... Jake!" A female voice called out to the Red Ranger from somewhere really far away. No. Sleep. I want to sleep. It hurts. Everything hurts. "Jake, talk to me, please..."

Jake's watery eyes opened to a blurry image of his mother and... someone else? Not Dad. Not Aiden. He blinked and squinted. Kerri. Mom and Kerri. What happened? Pain. So much pain. There was a mission, and a monster, and Putties, and...

"What happened?!" he groaned loudly attempting to sit up. But his arms gave out on him and he plopped back down on the hospital bed.

His mother caressed his arm, but this caused Jake to loudly suck air through his teeth in pain. Kat recoiled her hand but spoke softly to him. "There was a monster. He created a massive fireball that sent you and the other Rangers flying. You're in the Command Center in the medical bay. Try not to move too much. Rest."

Kerri spoke. "I'm so sorry, Jake. This is all my fault. If I'd been there..."

"You would be lying in a hospital bed too," Kat reassured her. "This is not your fault." She stood up. "Everyone is alive and slowly recovering thanks to your Power Coins. Take it easy for a while. I have to go check on Thuy now." She patted the bed lightly in lieu of touching her son before disappearing behind a privacy curtain across the room.

Kerri stood up from her seat at the foot of Jake's bed, about to walk away. "She's wrong, you know," Jake said. Kerri stopped to look at him. He looked terrible, covered in bandages, bruised all over. "About it not being your fault. It is."

Kerri's eyes widened in shock as Ty rolled over, wincing, to look at them. "Jake..." he started.

"No Ty," Jake interrupted. "She needs to know. There was a moment that Aiden called for you. A brief moment right before the monster did this. He was relying on you. _We_ were relying on you. If you had landed a blow with your Power Bow right then, you could have stopped the monster. You could have saved everyone." Jake turned his head slowly to look at Aiden in the next bed, still sleeping. His chest rose and fell rhythmically most of the time, only to be interrupted by a pained coughing fit. "But you weren't there." He turned back to her. "I think I know why."

Kerri looked away, but despite the pain, Jake reached out and grabbed her arm. "Tell me I'm wrong!" he hissed, making sure not to rouse the others or alert Kat. "Tell me you had a good reason! Tell me you didn't ditch us because you're still trying for Valedictorian!"

Her refusal to meet his eyes told him everything he needed to know. "I told you when this all started that you had to make sacrifices. We all do. We gave up our social lives. We gave up our grades. Aiden gave up the newspaper, Bryan gave up the robotics team, I gave up qualifying for state in Aikido, Ty gave up SGA..." he paused to catch his breath before continuing. "Thuy has to give up spending time with her aging "bà ngoại" - grandmother... to come out there and _save the freaking world_. You think you're the only one sacrificing something you want or need to do this?"

Jake released her arm and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "Consider yourself lucky for now," he said in a half-whisper. "Lucky that Aiden and the others can't hear us. Because if I was still the leader... I don't know that I could let you keep your Power Coin. And I'm your friend."

There was a long pause as Kerri's eyes teared up. She felt ashamed and angry at herself. She struggled to come up with something to say, but there weren't any words. Nothing was good enough to make up for how she'd let them down.

"Go away," Jake said in a hoarse whisper. "Just go... get away from me." Kerri wiped her eyes and vacated the room.

Ty opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Jake was absolutely right. And that scared him more than any monster.

* * *

The air conditioning system roared loudly as Kerri entered the still-warm control room of the Command Center. Aside from the heat, the first thing she noticed was the melted linoleum and scorch marks between the suit displays and the first row of consoles. The Rangers had been burned _badly_ based on that. Their skin didn't look burned in any way, so the suits' protection was apparently pretty damn good.

It didn't make her feel any better.

Billy had a holographic screen open with a newscaster talking about the incident in the woods. _"Again, officials have so far declined to comment, but various reports indicate the Power Rangers were seen just outside the radius of the supposed blast injured before vanishing. Now, if you look behind me you can see that the destruction of this area is absolute, with virtually no trace of the forest within the blast area. We still don't know what caused it, but authorities are still investigating. We'll continue to provide updates as they arise. Tom, back to you."_

Billy dismissed the news feed with a horizontal slice through the holographic panel. Kerri felt a hand pat her on the back as Tommy walked right past her, making a beeline for Billy. "How are they?" he asked.

"Stable," Billy replied, taking a break from the screens. "Kat's report says their vitals are within normal limits. No signs of burns or permanent damage. Their skin is going to be hypersensitive for a while and they have more than their fair share of bruises and bumps, but they'll live." He turned back to the screens. "The Morphin Grid was damaged, though. Nothing as bad as the Thrax incident, but I couldn't redirect all of the energy overload, and the Rangers came close to losing their connections to the grid. Alpha's doing damage control, but it'll be several hours before they can morph again."

Tommy thought for a few moments before asking, "...what happens if it comes back?"

Billy shook his head. "That monster expended a _lot_ of energy creating that explosion. It will need at least a day to recover, not to mention the hours it took to build up the energy on Earth in the first place. Plus, now that I know what to look for, we'll catch it a lot earlier." He turned back to Tommy. "Failing that, there's always Plan Zeta."

The two turned to look at Kerri, who was just standing there, sweating in the heat of the control room. "Um... do I need to leave?" she asked. "This sounds like it's getting personal."

Tommy shook his head. "No, you're fine. This is just... it's a mess."

"The kids are doing alright." Katherine's soft voice flowed through the room as she entered. "They need a few hours before they can go home, but they'll be sore quite a while. The Power Coins are infusing them with energy, speeding the healing process, but life isn't going to be fun for them for a few days."

 _There was a moment that Aiden called for you. A brief moment right before the monster did this. He was relying on you. We were relying on you. If you had landed a blow with your Power Bow right then, you could have stopped the monster. You could have saved everyone._

Kerri's hands were shaking as she opened the control panel and set up the teleporter. She hid her face behind the panel to ensure her tears weren't visible. "Call me if anything changes," she said as she vanished.

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove High**

 _One day later_

"Hey Kerri," Bryan said as he slowly approached her. His body language indicated he was still in a lot of pain.

"Hi, Bryan," she replied, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "How are you feeling?"

Bryan chuckled as he slowly opened his locker. "Lousy. Everything feels like pins and needles on my skin, including my clothes."

"Why is that, anyway?" Kerri asked, looking around.

Bryan leaned in slowly. "According to Billy, it's a result of our connection to the grid. Something about how the excess energy runoff from the suits when we were burned was backed up. The suits protected us from pain, but we're full of that bad energy, kinda like being charged with static. Just have to wait for it to transfer off or something. I didn't pick up on all the technobabble." He slowly and deliberately removed his backpack and placed it inside the locker. "Oh man, I'm _so_ glad to be rid of this thing for a while. You heading to lunch?"

Kerri hesitated. She wanted to get to the computer lab to finish another assignment she'd fallen behind on. But isn't that what happened last time? She chose school over her team? "Yeah!" she said with manufactured cheer. "Let's go, I'm starved."

The two slowly walked to the cafeteria. Bryan led her to their usual table (she'd only sat with them once the whole school year) where Thuy and Aiden were already chowing down on their homemade lunches. Jake and Ty were still in line for food. "Hey, how are you guys feeling?" Kerri asked.

"It feels like my whole body's asleep," Aiden said with a small shudder. "Every little thing feels weird, if it doesn't outright hurt." Thuy reached over and flicked Aiden's shoulder. He yelped and almost jumped out of his seat.

"See?" Thuy quipped. "It's pretty terrible." Aiden shot her a glare, but Thuy had already gone back to eating her meal, deadpan as always.

Ty and Jake approached with their trays. "You got the pizza?" Bryan asked as he pulled out his own lunch. "Nobody gets the pizza. It's cardboard."

"Cheese on cardboard is still cheese," Ty quipped.

Bryan rolled his eyes. "Oh, okay. That explains everything."

Ty and Jake gingerly sat down to begin eating. Kerri tried to avoid his gaze, but Jake every now and again glanced at her. Maybe it was her imagination, but the glance didn't look very friendly.

"Kerri? Where's your lunch?" Aiden asked.

Her eyes snapped from Jake to their leader. "Um? I don't usually eat lunch. I kinda get busy, so I don't really bother with it..."

Aiden slid a fruit cup to her. "Oh no, it's fine, I..." Thuy put a chicken wing on a napkin and gingerly sent it over. Bryan placed an apple in front of her. "No, really," she insisted. "You don't have to-"

"You gotta keep your strength up," Aiden said as Ty passed his milk carton to her. "Besides, we have plenty of food. Gotta look out for our teammates, especially when things get as rough as they have been."

 _Oh, this is so not fair!_ Kerri thought as she looked at the food they'd given her. _It's like they're_ trying _to make me feel bad!_ But the look on Aiden's face was sincere, and none of them, save Jake, gave any indication they thought less of her for being absent in the last battle. They probably _didn't_ know. Jake was right - Aiden would have every right to kick her off the team after what happened. Jake and Ty must have kept their mouths shut.

She sighed as she slowly at the food she was given while the others talked and laughed. But Jake's stare kept boring through her.

* * *

Kerri sat in the computer lab an hour later typing up a report. She was running out of time and had to get the file into the system in fifteen minutes. She finished the last paragraph and began to scan through the document, looking for typos.

She heard movement next to her. When she turned to look, Aiden was gingerly sitting down with a grunt. "Oh man, I wish my dad had gotten me out of gym today. Why did it have to be dodgeball?!" Kerri chuckled in spite of herself as Aiden looked closer at her monitor. "You have Ms. Morris for English, right?" He pointed to a sentence. "She has this pet peeve where she hates it when you use a noun adjunct when an adjective will do. Change 'woman' to 'female' or she'll deduct some points."

"Oh, thanks," Kerri said as she made the change. Aiden helped her comb through the rest of the document, and with every correction, she felt lower and lower.

* * *

Kerri wiped the sweat from her brow as she walked home. It had been a long and emotionally trying day, and she just wanted to go home and rest before something else happened. But a car pulled up next to her.

"Hey, Kerri!" Bryan said from the passenger window. She turned to see it was Thuy driving them both home. "Where's your car?"

"Oh, yeah, that old clunker gave out two weeks ago. I'm going to be without a car for a while."

"Get in," Thuy insisted. "I'll give you a lift."

Without any justifiable reason to say no, Kerri climbed into the back seat, putting her backpack down next to her as she buckled in. "I'm going to be driving a little slowly," Thuy warned, "but I'll try to go faster than you would have walked." She grinned slightly, then returned to the street. Every now again the car would bump, causing a pained grunt to emit from the two Rangers in the front seat. She sighed and stared out the window.

"So what's wrong with your car?" Bryan's question snapped Kerri out of her daydream. They were only about a minute away from her house.

"It won't start."

"Does the engine turn over? The lights turn on?"

"No, none of that. We tried jumping the battery but it didn't work."

Bryan mulled it over. "Let me take a look at it." The group arrived at her house. "Is the car in the back driveway?" Kerri nodded and let the two in. They headed to the back to take a look at the car. Bryan popped the hood and looked around. "If it's not the battery, it's probably the alternator. Do you have $200?"

Kerri was taken aback by the question. "Huh? Um yeah, I think my dad has money put aside case of car problems. I was going to take it to a mechanic..."

Bryan waved her off. "Nah, no need. I can replace the alternator for free, and I know a guy who can get me one for only $200."

* * *

Four hours and $230 later, Bryan had very carefully (and painfully) installed a new alternator in Kerri's car. Sure enough, once the keys were in the ignition, the car started up without a hitch. "Oh my god, thank you Bryan!" She hugged him and he yelped, causing her to jump back. "Oooh, sorry! But thanks! You just saved me a lot of money."

Bryan shrugged as he very gingerly wiped his hands with a rag. "Hey, that's what friends do, right?"

Kerri silently kicked herself.

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove Computer Lab**

 _The next day_

Kerri was hard at work on an assignment after the final class let out when her wrist communicator vibrated and beeped. Was the monster back?! How were they going to beat it? "This is Kerri," she responded.

"Teleport to the Command Center now," Tommy said. "The monster's back."

Kerri looked at her paper and sighed. "Be there soon," she said as she submitted the half-complete essay to Blackboard.

Kerri appeared in the Command Center as others were arriving. Aiden was the last to appear. "What's going on?"

Billy pointed to the viewing globe. "Sensors in this area of the forest have recorded a massive spike of energy followed by heavy drops in oxygen. The monster is definitely there, and is definitely attempting to lure you out."

Adam stepped in front of the Rangers. "Aiden, Jake... all of you. This might be too much. I... I don't know how I feel about sending you out there to fight our war." Tommy nodded in agreement.

Aiden sighed. "This isn't your war. It's our war. Humanity's war. And we've all said yes to this mission. We're not stopping now."

"What's the plan?" Ty asked. "We're going to try sneaking up on it again?"

Aiden shook his head. "No. It's unconventional, but I think we're going to try a more direct approach."

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove Woods**

It was quite a sight. The silent, serene forest was suddenly in an uproar. Birds flew away, animals skittered from tree to tree, all because a multi-story tall robot in the image of a mastodon crawled up. A saber-tooth tiger, T-Rex, and a triceratops rolled up as well, surrounding the point where the monster sat. A pterodactyl hovered well above, running scans of the area.

"You guys sure you don't want Dragonzord too?" Ty asked.

"Not yet," Aiden said. "Let's see how the Dinozords do first."

"Ready on your mark," Thuy said.

"Fire!" Aiden yelled. The T-Rex zord fired lightning from its mouth. The tiger emitted a bolt of lightning from its tail while the mastodon began to chill the air down to a frigid 20 degrees. The explosion from the energy blasts was sky-high, but when the smoke cleared, the monster was still there, completely unaffected. It had surrounded itself with a heat dome that neutralized all the attacks and was even keeping his section of the wood balmy and warm.

" _Rangers, get back!"_ But Billy's warning came too late. The flame lit on the monster's head, and the devastation was immediate. The individual Zords, though able to hold their ground, suffered severe heat damage as the trees evaporated in the wake of the flaming dome. Sparks flew from control panels and the Rangers cried out as they were blown all over their cockpits and onto the floor, half slumped over the chair.

The burst of heat created pockets of extremely hot air around the dome. The hot air rose rapidly, sending the Pterodactyl straight into the sky. Kerri screamed as she rocketed up almost into space where the heat began to die down. She was shaken, but her Zord remained largely undamaged.

"He's vulnerable!" Ty yelled. He immediately brought the Dragon Dagger to his mouthpiece and summoned Dragonzord. The massive behemoth charged out of the water and made a beeline for the forest. As it approached the devastation, it slowed to a stop and shot its drill tail at the monster.

The flame lit again. Dragonzord's tail melted due to its proximity and fell over, Ty yelling into the mic before the line went dead.

Kerri got the readout on her HUD. All the other Zords were inoperable. As she sat on the cusp of the Earth's atmosphere, she pondered her options. In the end, she wasn't able to do anything to help! And once again, she was going to walk away without a scratch while the others suffered.

It was because her Zord could fly. A massive thermal had pushed her up until it couldn't push her anymore.

 _"Kerri, get back to the Command Center,"_ Tommy ordered. " _There's nothing else you can do._ "

...until it couldn't push her anymore.

 _"Kerri, did you hear me?_ "

Until it couldn't push her anymore! The flame had died down because the oxygen was so low up here. That meant...

Suddenly, Kerri put the Pterodactyl into a nosedive. _"Kerri, what are you doing?!"_ Adam demanded. _"This was obviously a trap! He made us think the monster could only pull that move once! Get out of there!"_

She shut the distractions out. As she approached the monster, she flipped the Zord upside down so the pterodactyl's head was below the shield body. Then she retracted the head and rotated the Zord so that only the Megazord's "chest" was showing. The monster, upon seeing the approaching Zord, fired off another burst, but Kerri gunned the rockets. She was thrown slightly off course, but was able to compensate because this blast had been weaker than the other two.

That's what she was counting on. And it was all she needed.

With her controls in the red and the Zord having taken heavy damage, she reoriented the dinosaur until its "beak" jammed straight into the monster's body. She pulled up on the controls as the pressure of her momentum kept the giant candle glued to her Zord. Then she ascended. Straight into space.

The monster, in a panic, fired off several lower-powered bursts of flame. They were nothing to laugh at, as Kerri's alarms clearly pointed out, but she wasn't giving up. Higher... higher... higher...

 _"Kerri! What is she doing?!"_

 _"She's taking the monster into space! She's trying to nullify his power by depriving him of oxygen!"_

 _"Will her Zord hold up long enou-"_ Communications were reduced to static as some important part of the Zord melted in the heat. But higher they went. The control console to her right exploded in her face. But she was unmoving. "I'm sorry guys. I'm sorry I let you down. But it's not happening again. I'm not going to be Valedictorian. But I _am_ a Ranger. And I'm going to prove it."

The Pterodactyl burst through the highest layer of clouds and straight out of the Earth's lower atmosphere. Absolute silence all around as the monster's yells made no sound. Kerri jammed on the breaks as the Zord kept sparking and the lights were starting to fade. The monster flew off the nose of the Pterodactyl and kept going, out into space. Once at a safe distance, Kerri slammed her hand down on the weapons button, firing repeating twin lasers at the monster that tore through its body before it finally exploded in an eerie silence. The Pink Ranger sighed and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes. She'd done it. She just had to turn around and...

Another alarm sounded. She looked at her screen and realized that firing the weapons had overheated the Zord, and all functions were shutting down. But not before the control panel in front of her blew, overloading her suit and knocking her out.

* * *

 **Location: Command Center**

"She dispatched the monster, but her Zord is completely immobilized," Billy said as the other Rangers demorphed. "Life support systems won't last long now that she's demorphed."

"Seriously," Jake complained. "Why is her Zord the only one that can fly? This seems like a huge oversight on you guys' part."

Tommy ignored his son. "Billy, teleport her back, quick."

Billy shook his head as he operated the controls. "We can't get a lock. Before you ask why, do you really want me to explain why? It'll take several minutes.

Tommy groaned and facepalmed. "At least tell me we have a tractor beam built into the Command Center."

Billy scoffed. "After King Mondo almost launched me into the sun? How could I not? Bryan, Alpha, come help with the calculations."

* * *

 **Location: Earth's Exosphere**

Kerri opened her eyes and slowly, coughing and shivering. Life support was low. She was demorphed. How long had she been out? It couldn't have been that long. Maybe there was a crack in the Zord that was leaking air? Not that it mattered. Either the others were coming to save her, or... this was it. The end of the line.

Was it worth it, she wondered. Was it worth it to divebomb the monster in a suicide move to make up for her earlier failure? _Did_ she do it to make up for that failure? Or would she have done this stunt anyway? Kerri didn't know anymore. Maybe it didn't matter.

She tried the controls. They were unresponsive. There was no power. Not even an emergency light. The cockpit was mostly dark, and she was (thankfully) facing away from the blinding sun. She pulled out her Morpher and pushed the button. But when she tried to breath in to shout, she began coughing wildly, and let go of the Morpher, which began to drift around the cockpit.

By the time she got her coughing under control she was completely out of energy. She leaned her head back, looking up at the ceiling and watching her Morpher drift around. She raised a hand to reach for it, but the cabin suddenly lit up with a soft green glow. Kerri jerked her head up and looked out the window. She felt movement. Was she falling?

Her question was answered when her Morpher fell out of the air and onto her head.

* * *

Billy got a lock by the time the Zord had entered the stratosphere. With the Zord still being pulled, he teleported Kerri to the control room. The Rangers rushed her, catching her as she almost collapsed on the floor. "Thuy, help Kerri to the med bay," Aiden ordered. As the two stumbled off, Aiden wandered over to the corner of the control room while the others talked about what happened and how Billy got her back. He stared at the last costume tube, currently displaying the Wild Force Lunar Wolf Ranger. After a few moments, Jake walked up to him. "Hey, Aiden. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Aiden turned to him. "I'd say Kerri more than made up for ditching us."

Jake's eyes widened. "You knew about that?"

"Come on, Jake. What could she have possibly been doing that was more important than going on a mission? If it had been something legitimate, she would have said so by now. Her avoidance of the topic spoke volumes." He looked at Jake with a sheepish grin. "That said, Thuy was the one who figured it out, not me."

"You never wanted to kick her out?" Jake asked cautiously.

Aiden sighed and shrugged. "Not that it didn't cross my mind, but Kerri is... a very driven person. She just needed to learn her priorities. She needed to figure out what was most important to her."

"So the lunch thing..."

"...was calculated, yes," Aiden said. "So was Bryan fixing her car. We weren't trying to make her feel bad, per se, but she needed to be reminded what a team was and what her team was willing to do to support her. That said, I didn't want her to go on a suicide mission, but I think it's safe to say that she's with us now." Aiden turned to look at the Command Center while the others continued talking. "I hate that she has to give up her dreams for this. I miss the newspaper and all the other stuff we did in our free time. And if Kerri wanted to walk away from all of this to continue her dream of graduating at the top of our class, I wouldn't have judged her. It takes someone special to do this kind of work willingly."

Jake remained silent.

"You did well, Jake. You chose well. I think we both did. Hiccups like this are bound to happen. We all have our flaws and weaknesses. But Kerri proved today that they wouldn't keep her down. You proved that a few weeks ago yourself. One of these days I'll have to prove it. But we have a solid team. A team Zedd can't take down." He almost clapped his hand on Jake's shoulder, but suddenly dropped it, remembering the sensitivity issue.

Adam approached the two. "Kerri's okay. Exhausted, but okay. She'll need to rest for a while." Jake and Aiden nodded, and Adam walked back to the medical bay.

"Good," Aiden said with a grin. "She still owes me a fruit cup."


	5. Short-Circuited - Part 1

_A/N: I realized as I was finishing up the last chapter that I've been writing this story in a very episodic manner. I suppose that's to be expected when writing a story based on a TV show, but I had to debate with myself whether to continue doing so, or start writing it more like a story. Then I decided I didn't care, and embraced the episodic style! Enjoy this episode._

 **Chapter 5  
** _Short-Circuited - Part 1_

 **Location: "The Grove" Outlet Mall  
** _Noon_

"What do you think of this one?"

Aiden's eyes remained glazed over as he sat, slumped in the corner of a dressing room, watching his mother pop in and out of her stall with a different outfit each time. "It's great, Mom," he said blandly, easily the 9th or 10th time he repeated the phrase. "This one is truly stunning."

Ciara admired herself in the mirror for a few moments before replying. "You know, you could try a little harder to be excited. I'm only in town for the weekend. I won't get to see you again for another month!"

Aiden sighed. He almost wished there was a monster attack to distract from all of this. "If we spent that time doing something other than shopping for clothes you never wear, the excitement would flow so naturally."

She scoffed at this. "You'd complain no matter what we did." She disappeared behind the curtain once more. Aiden stared at his communicator, as if to make it go off with willpower alone. A few moments later, he shook his head vigorously. Why would he _ask_ for a monster attack? He should be happy that things have been relatively peaceful for the past few days.

Aiden leaned his head back against the wall while he waited. Eventually, his mother emerged from the dressing stall wearing her own clothes. "Yeah… none of it speaks to me." Despite himself, Aiden let out an audible groan.

When most people imagine shopping with their mother, they imagine having to carry tons and tons of bags and bouncing from store to store buying and buying. Not Aiden's mother. It never failed to feel like a waste of time when she would spend an hour in a single store trying on everything only to not end up buying anything at all. This also meant that another store was on the docket.

"Come on, you whiner. Let's go get something to eat before we hit the next store." Aiden breathed a sigh of relief for the reprieve.

"I vote for the Cajun place down the street," he said quickly. "I want the bourbon street chicken."

His mother sighed. She didn't much like the place, but appeasing her son meant more time shopping. "Fine," she said hesitantly. She left the unwanted clothes in the dressing room as she and Aiden made their way, empty handed, to the door.

* * *

 _12:30 PM_

As they ate, Aiden's mother made an attempt at small talk that Aiden only passively responded to. Most of his dialogue was grunts and nods as she continued eating. His mind was on other things, on monsters and brightly colored heroes with comically large weapons. More specifically, he was thinking about his team. Was Jake still angry at him on some level? Was Bryan still suffering from confidence issues? Would Kerri be more reliable after what happened? How was Thuy adjusting? Would Ty keep harping on the roll call stuff?

"Aiden, are you angry about the divorce?"

Aiden inhaled a few grains of rice, sending him into a coughing fit. "Wh-what?" he managed between fits of hacking.

"You live with your father. You see him more, you hear from him more. It would make sense that if Adam is still angry, you're angry too. Do you blame me for the divorce?"

Aiden cleared the last few bits of rice from his throat before speaking. "Um... yeah, you and Dad don't talk about the divorce. Ever. I still have no idea why you divorced. If anything, I'm mad at both of you for hiding the reasons from me." He rolled his eyes and took a drink of his water. "But no, I'm not mad at you. I don't like shopping, there's a lot going on in school that's keeping my mind busy, and there's a woman running down the street screaming."

Ciara turned around to watch a young woman, probably in her early 20s with brown hair and nicely dressed, sprinting down the street screaming. She was soon followed by two businessmen, a couple of kids, a couple in bathing suits, and finally a crowd of crazed people running and screaming.

They were being chased. And soon their pursuer came into view. He was six feet tall with pale white skin. Humanoid, but definitely not human. Long silver hair adorned his head and he was dressed in a long white cloak that was scalloped at the end, creating a zig-zag pattern along the bottom. His skin was covered in red tattoos that looked like magical runes with very light metal armor covering his chest to his legs. He stood barefoot, but had no toes, his feet being one solid shape. His eyes were bright blue, his expression blank and unemotional. He had no ears, though that wouldn't mean he was deaf. His lean muscular build was visible in his exposed arms. In one hand, he held a long, thin, twisting blade that sparkled silver in the bright sunlight.

Every motion was measured and controlled. With one slice of his double-helix blade, a car was split in half. Another slice, and another halved car. And doubled insurance rates. But no strike hit any person. Property damage only. No explosions, as no gas tanks were hit. Nothing over the top. No threats, no laughter, just straight destruction.

"Go go go!" Aiden hissed as he grabbed his mother's arm and began running in the direction of the other escapees. His mind was racing, trying to come up with a way to get his mother to escape while he himself could return to battle the monster. She was ahead of him as they ran. He saw an opening, but it wasn't elegant. "Run faster!" he yelled to make her believe he was right behind her. When he was sure she wasn't going to turn around, he ducked into a nearby alley and rounded the corner, hiding next to a dumpster. "Aiden to Command Center," he said into his communicator. It responded with three atonal beeps, indicating that his message didn't go through.

Uh-oh.

"Aiden to all points. Come in." The beeps again. He tried teleporting, but the communicator responded with a shrill, high-pitched alarm sound. "What's wrong with this thing?!" he demanded.

Suddenly, Aiden's thoughts were shattered by a very deep, commanding, yet smooth and dignified voice. "Bring me a Power Ranger!" The monster was loud, his voice demanding attention. "The destruction stops when I see at least one Power Ranger!"

He wasn't getting any backup on this one unless one of them happened to glance at the news. But Jake was out of town and Kerri was likely nose deep in a textbook. Hopefully Ty or Thuy would be along to back him up. Until then, he had to keep the monster distracted.

"Come out of hiding, Power Rangers! At least one of you should answer my call! I will end the destruction once one of you shows your helmet!"

"You called?!" Aiden yelled as he leapt from a nearby rooftop onto the ground in front of the monster in a perfect three-point crouch. He stood tall, scanning the area. Civilians were still cowering, waiting for an opportunity to escape. Aiden wasn't one for getting into dialogue with monsters, but he needed to distract him so the civilians could flee. "I'm here now, what do you want?"

The monster withdrew his sword and arms into his cloak and looked at Aiden dead on. "The Black Ranger. The leader of your merry band of superheroes." He flashed a brief grin before his face grew serious again. "Goldar is convinced the Red Ranger leads you, but I know better. You see, I've been watching you. Studying your group. I know who gives the commands. I recognize leadership when I see it."

What was this about? "I didn't come here to make small talk," Aiden said as the civilians slowly started to disperse. "Who are you, and what's your gimmick?"

The monster chuckled softly. "Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am Cyrus, a new general serving Lord Zedd alongside Goldar. I have no gimmick, other than pure skill. I've been studying you Rangers for weeks, and I think it's time I tested my mettle against one of you. As I'm sure you've noticed, you're all alone, unable to contact anyone."

Aiden's eyes widened under his helmet. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"Me? Nothing," Cyrus answered with a wry smile. "I am the chessmaster of this game, however, and I know every move so far. You're just the first pawn to fall."

 _Keep him talking, Aiden._ "Chess references? What, do you and Goldar play weekly matches of human board games? I can't imagine he's much competition."

Cyrus simply laughed. "Oh, he certainly isn't. You, on the other hand, _you_ are a much more worthy opponent. The leader of the team my Lord has yet to defeat."

"I thought you said I was just a pawn," Aiden said carefully.

"Oh, certainly. Even the strongest of pawns is still a pawn. Still, you hold promise. Perhaps under my tutelage you could grow to greater heights."

"Right," Aiden said flatly. His eyes darted around to see that most of the civilians were gone, save for a few camera operators from various news organizations. They weren't going anywhere, and Aiden couldn't really take the time to shoo them away. He took a defensive stance. "Enough jibbering."

Cyrus grinned that creepy grin once more. "Yes, the little humans have vacated the area, so you're ready to fight. How predictable. Nevertheless, this fight is about you and me, not them, so I was happy to engage you in this conversation." He drew his sword once more. "When you're ready."

Aiden summoned his Power Ax and charged. An upward swing was blocked easily by Cyrus' massive sword, and Aiden received a powerful kick to the chest for his trouble. He rolled with it, tumbling back before righting himself and switching his ax to Frost Mode. He fired the blue-white beam of energy, only to have it deflected by the sword as well. His attempts to sweep the beam failed, as Cyrus' defense was far better. Aiden switched tactics, attempting to freeze the ground below the enemy to remove his traction. Cyrus grinned and responded with a twenty-foot leap into the air over the ice. Aiden trained the beam on the monster while in midair, but his sword continued to repel it. Aiden jumped out of the way just barely fast enough as the razor-sharp blade came down a hair's width from his shoulder.

Aiden switched back to Ax Mode and resumed his up-close-and-personal onslaught, but every attack was blocked. He once again barely dodged Cyrus' sword slamming down on him before jumping up on the sword and launching himself into the air. With a flip, he came down with his ax trained on Cyrus' head. Cyrus blocked easily, but Aiden didn't give up, putting all of his weight behind the strike.

Wrong move. Cyrus' helix blade charged with electricity that easily conducted through the Power Ax and into Aiden. He yelped, but was stuck as his muscles contracted. The attack let up and Aiden fell backwards, his ax falling to the ground a few feet away. It took a few seconds, but Aiden managed to roll over on his stomach and began reaching for the weapon. Cyrus, however, wasn't about to let him have it. He jammed his foot down on Aiden's arm, crushing him as the Black Ranger cried out. Then, with a powerful slice, Cyrus split Aiden's Power Ax in half, rendering it useless.

Aiden managed to break free of the hold and stumbled back, holding his left arm. The suit was protecting him from any permanent damage so far, but the pain was still very real. He looked down at the destroyed Power Ax, sparking and smoking.

"Don't feel bad, Black Ranger," Cyrus said, his tone oddly sincere. "I've been studying you for weeks. I know exactly how you fight. Your every tactic is clear as day to me."

 _Okay,_ Aiden thought. _Time to think outside the box._ He looked around for anything useful in the environment. He'd dodge anything he knocked over, the fire hydrant was too far away to do any real good, and communications were down.

"Aiden! Where are you?!"

Oh crap. Aiden turned around to see his mother wandering around, shouting for him. "AIDEN! ANSWER ME!"

* * *

 **Location: Angel Grove Public Library**

 _1:05 PM_

Kerri typed rapidly, fingers flying across the keyboard trying to transcribe thoughts into papers that made A grades. She had her headphones in listening to classical music (she'd heard somewhere that listening to Mozart improved one's IQ for a short time) as she struggled to come up with another paragraph. Her Communicator was set to vibrate so she wouldn't miss an alert, but she felt both relieved and mildly suspicious that nothing had happened.

She tried to shrug off the paranoia and continue working. The paper was starting to come together when she noticed a large amount of movement out of the corner of her eye. She ignored it at first, but as more people seemed to be heading in that direction, she pulled off the headphones and turned to look. A crowd of people were huddled around the wall-mounted TV. It was muted (this was a library, after all), but the captioning read that the Black Ranger was locked in battle with a powerful monster at "The Grove," a local outlet mall that Kerri herself had spent a lot of time at in years past.

Why was Aiden battling a monster alone? Why hadn't he contacted any of them? Or why hadn't Zordon said anything? She jumped from her desk and made for the bathroom, but stopped short, saving her work and locking the computer. She then entered the bathroom and checked to make sure no one was in any of the stalls.

"Zordon, come in," she said into the Communicator. The error tone played. "Ranger Black, come in." Same result. She tried teleporting and got a shrill alarm sound instead. Confused, she ran back into the library where she saw Aiden holding his own, if only barely. The news station also interspersed the visuals with images of the monster slicing cars in half effortlessly. She had a choice to make: try to find the others, or go to help Aiden. Clearly either he was the only one who got the alert, or he was just in the area when the attack hit. None of the other Rangers were there and none of the footage being played indicated they'd arrived earlier and were defeated.

As Aiden seemed to continue to hold his own, she decided on a course of action. She bolted outside and into a private alley. "It's morphin' time! Pterodactyl!" She turned toward the sky, holding out a hand. "Pterodactyl! Dino Zord! Power up!"

* * *

 **Location: "The Grove" Outlet Mall**

Aiden turned his attention back to the monster, who had taken note of the wandering woman as well. "Still, I expected more, from you. Perhaps you just need motivation." He began walking, very calmly and deliberately toward Aiden's mother, sword drawn and ready. Aiden yelled out, drawing his blade blaster and slashing at Cyrus to keep him distracted. Cyrus responded by picking up Aiden by the helmet and throwing him fifteen feet away, then continuing his slow saunter toward the oblivious civilian.

But she wasn't oblivious for long. She began screaming at Cyrus. "What did you do with my son? Answer me, freak!"

"You need to be taught some manners," he replied, raising his sword. Aiden charged again, but was repelled by Cyrus' blade that sent him flying once more. By the time Aiden managed to lift his head, Cyrus was closing in on her. Stupidly, she stood her ground, still demanding to know where Aiden had gone.

Aiden barely managed to stand, and in a last-ditch effort to save his mother, he switched his Blade Blaster into gun mode and fired... but not at Cyrus. Instead, he hit the nearby fire hydrant on the side port. It sparked and the cap was blown off, sending a blast of high-intensity water right at Cyrus. Before he realized what was happening, Cyrus was being tossed across the street by the torrent as Aiden raced toward his mother, grabbed her, and leapt up to a nearby rooftop with her in his arms. As she screamed, he leapt from rooftop to rooftop until he felt like they were a safe distance from the monster.

Aiden accessed the voice synthesizer in his helmet, a feature he hadn't yet used. Unfortunately, the voices weren't described in any way, rather they were just labeled Voice 01, Voice 02, and so on. He randomly selected Voice 07 before speaking.

"You need to get out of here!" he shouted in a _very_ female voice. He had to resist the urge to facepalm. "Th-this isn't a safe area!"

She stood firm, however. "I have to find my son! He disappeared while we were running!"

"There's nothing you can do right now. If he's safe, he'll come out once the attack is over. You can't do him any favors by getting yourself killed. Now stay put!" With that, Aiden leapt back toward the fray, landing on the ground behind Cyrus. He swung his foot backward to trip the enemy, but Cyrus simply jumped over it before Aiden righted himself and the two stood, deadlocked, staring at each other.

"Impressive. It's amazing what a little property damage can do, especially after you've been so careful to avoid it." He gestured toward the fire hydrant which was still pulsing water into the street. Aiden wished he still had his Power Ax as the water pooled around their feet. He could do something with all this potential ice. But with the Ax destroyed, he had to come up with yet another creative plan.

Ideas were in short supply, however.

* * *

 **Location: Seattle, Washington**

 _1:15 PM_

"Hey mom, where'd Dad go?" Jake asked as he pulled another soda from his grandparents' fridge.

"I don't know," Kat responded, not looking up from her book. "It's not like your father to vanish after leaving me here with his parents who nitpick every little thing."

Jake almost choked on his soda. "Um... okay," he said, chuckling. He looked around for a second to ensure his grandparents were still in the living room before pressing the button on his Communicator. "Dad, it's me." Error tone.

"Dad?" Error tone.

Kat tried next. "Zordon, do you read?" Error tone. "That's odd."

Their exchange was interrupted by a loud screech from outside. Kat and Jake jumped at the sound, then both raced to the window. Hovering overhead was the Pterodactyl Dino Zord, screeching every 30 seconds or so for good measure. "I... I think that might be for me," Jake said.

* * *

 **Location: "The Grove" Outlet Mall**

As his Blade Blaster became less about slashing and more about defending, Aiden found himself resisting the urge to call in the Mastodon Dino Zord and just step on the guy. Cyrus kept slashing and slashing, driving Aiden back until he was in a corner. The force of Cyrus' attacks drove him down to one knee with the Blade Blaster over his head, barely keeping the attacks away from his head.

Cyrus then suddenly let up and attempted to slash horizontally to catch Aiden off guard. But the moment the pressure was off, the Black Ranger dived between Cyrus' legs and rolled out of harm's way. Cyrus' blade, however, got stuck in the wall, affording Aiden three free attacks to the general's back before he had to retreat and put more distance between them.

Cyrus sighed as he whipped his blade around in the air a few times. "I'm quite bored of this now. Time to die. Any last words?"

"Bring it," Aiden said, trying to sound tough. But Cyrus just cocked an eyebrow as the Black Ranger realized his voice synthesizer was still on.

Without any additional warning, Cyrus completely changed tactics. No longer taunting and dancing around the issue, he rushed forward at a blinding speed landing strike after strike. Before Aiden hit the ground, his suit had taken ten hits from that sword. The Blade Blaster fell from his hand and broke in two upon landing on the ground. Aiden's yell had collapsed in on itself, becoming a gurgling groan as he lay on the ground, defenseless. His vision became blurry, the HUD in his helmet began to fade, and he felt the powers starting to dissipate as his strength evaporated.

General Cyrus approached to land the final blow when the Pterodactyl went straight for the attack. The twin lasers struck the monster with pinpoint accuracy, sending him flying at least fifty feet. Rangers Red, Blue, and Pink emerged from the Zord to form a wall between Aiden and Cyrus. While the monster had the upper hand up to that point, he found himself a little overwhelmed by the full frontal assault from Jake's sword and Bryan's lance coupled with Kerri's long-range arrow attacks.

Cyrus looked at the group as he continued to fend off the attacks. He'd miscalculated. By leaving the news reporters alone and toying with Ranger Black for so long, he'd given the other Rangers the chance to find out what he was doing, and now his odds weren't so great. Hopefully the other half of the plan was going better.

"Your leader is down," Cyrus said confidently as he knocked more arrows out of the air. "Your team is divided, and you're cut off from Zordon. I wonder how much longer you'll last. But for now, this battle is over." And in a flash of light, Cyrus was gone.

"Blue! How's Ranger Black doing?" Kerri yelled.

Bryan was already at Aiden's side, his helmet feeding him a bio-analysis. "Not good. Vitals are crazy, and the suit's about ready to give out. We gotta get him in your Zord." Jake nodded and ran over, putting one of Aiden's arms around his shoulder as Bryan did the same. The three leapt into the Zord, safe from prying eyes.

* * *

 **Location: Pterodactyl Dino Zord**

 _1:30 PM_

"What now?" Kerri demanded. "No response from the Command Center, Thuy and Ty never showed up when I went for them, and Aiden won't wake up or demorph. Should we just take him to a hospital?"

"In _this_ economy?" Bryan responded, only half joking. "We should probably just fly to the Command Center from here, find out for ourselves what's going on."

Jake nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should do that. If the Command Center is offline somehow, we'll want to restart everything."

Kerri nodded and took her seat. "Hang on to something," she said as she gunned the Zord for the Command Center. It was around then that Aiden's powers finally gave out and his Ranger suit burst in a shower of sparks, vanishing into nothing.

"I don't see any obvious signs of trauma," Bryan reported as they flew. "But he's not waking up, either." Bryan ground his knuckles into Aiden's sternum, causing him to groan and recoil in pain. "He's still responsive to pain."

"Guys..." Kerri said. "We've got a huge problem."

"What, did you run out of gas or something?" Jake asked.

But there was no joking tone in Kerri's voice. "Just... look out the window. We're here."

Bryan and Jake peered out the window from behind Kerri, and their breathing stopped short almost immediately. The Command Center was within view... and around it was a dark blue force field surrounded by a sea of Putty Patrollers trying to bang their way in. But worst of all, through the shield, the Rangers could see that some of the putties were _already inside._

Suddenly, the comm unit in the Zord came to life with Billy's voice barely audible over the static. "Guys... if you can hear me, we've got a huge problem here."

"You are _not_ even kidding," Bryan said.


	6. Short-Circuited - Part 2

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Inspiration was fickle._

* * *

 **Chapter 5  
** _Short-Circuited - Part 2_

 **Location: Command Center**

 _11:00 AM_

A bright flash of green and yellow heralded the appearance of Ty and Thuy. "What's wrong?" Thuy asked. The alarms weren't going off, Zordon wasn't visible in his tube, and the viewing globe didn't display any danger in Angel Grove. The back wall displayed various suits from previous Ranger teams as always, though the Yellow Zeo Ranger caught Thuy's attention for a moment. She had questions to ask one day.

"Nothing," Billy said as he approached. "Sorry to bug you guys when we're relatively Zedd-free, but I'm attempting to integrate some new weapon technology into your powers. I wanted to borrow your morphers for a few hours to program in the new stuff, then have you test it once it's ready. It could be fun... in an 'extra-credit-is-fun' kind of way."

Ty yawned. "Why us? Did you guys draw straws when we weren't around or something?"

"I thought I'd give Kerri some time to keep working on her schoolwork, since she's still a little weirded-out from the candle monster incident. Jake's out of town visiting his grandparents, Aiden's been working way too hard lately and would be _too_ eager to help out (plus he has family in from out of town), and Bryan's new weapon isn't fully finished yet. So it came to you. Unless that's a problem?"

Thuy handed her morpher to Billy while shaking her head. "I'm good."

Ty did the same. "No problem. Waking up early on a Saturday is the best thing ever."

"Oh, come on," Thuy said, rolling her eyes. "It's 11 in the morning. How late do you sleep? Never mind, don't answer that." She turned to Billy. "I assume you want us to stick around for a while?

"Right," Billy said as he received Ty's morpher. "It shouldn't take me long. Go hang out in the study if you want, I'll call when it's ready."

* * *

They didn't hang out in the study. By the time Billy started work on the weapons, Thuy had mats set up in the basement of the Command Center, in a large open room that was mostly devoid of stuff, save for a few boxes along the walls, and what looked like sections of old mainframe computers in the corners. Thuy hadn't had a chance to spar with Kerri, Ty, or Jake so far, and given that they came from the same martial arts studio, she'd been looking for a chance to check out their fighting style. She would have preferred to spar against Jake, as he was easily the best of the three, but Ty was no slouch, and this was her chance.

Ty, on the other hand, was significantly less enthused by the proposition. "Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean, we might break something here." It was mildly surprising that there wasn't a sparring area in the Command Center aside from the holographic training room. But sparring in there meant there would be monsters and Zords involved, which would have been a bit too much.

"You're not nervous, are you?" Thuy asked, genuinely not teasing him.

Ty rolled his eyes. "Sparring against the most skilled fighter on the team? Why would I be nervous about _that_?" He took a sip from his water battle and removed his shirt, setting it and the bottle with his shoes for the moment. "It's not like you're going to completely humiliate me or anything." Ty was in good shape physically, though he wasn't quite as bulky-buff as Jake, nor as lean-buff as Aiden.

Thuy had already changed into her gi, as she'd brought her gym bag with her when she teleported. Her white outfit was adorned with a purple belt. Ty was a belt behind, only a blue belt, but he wasn't about to admit that. He was dressed in gym shorts and no shirt, since he hadn't brought an outfit to spar in, and jeans didn't offer much in the way of mobility or flexibility.

"I am not the most skilled fighter on the team," she retorted as she took her stance.

Ty rolled his eyes again. "Sure you're not."

"When you're ready," she challenged.

Ty tried to test her with a simple kick, but she easily dodged. He waited for the counterattack, but none came. The further into the match they got, the more he realized that she was throwing very few attacks at all, content to walking in circles and dodging his strikes with relative ease. Even his feints weren't helping. As the match dragged on to 30 minutes (with a couple of breaks), he'd only connected twice and was exhausted. Meanwhile Thuy had gotten in several good strikes and had pretty much dodged everything Ty had thrown at her. At one point she'd placed a handsword on his spine and just held it there, matching his turns and making it nearly impossible for him to even get her in his line of sight.

Ty was exhausted, annoyed, embarrassed, and... well, mostly annoyed. When the final "round" started, he raced toward her. When she prepared to dodge, he feinted, feinted again, feinted some more, and when she finally thought she had a bead on what he was doing, he sent a powerful kick to her stomach. _Too_ powerful, even, as he wasn't intending on putting that much force behind it. Thuy tried to roll with it but ended up slamming into one of the mainframes in a corner of the room. Immediately the alarms started going off throughout the Command Center.

Ty immediately regretted it and ran to her, helping her up. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, that was way too much." Thuy was still catching her breath, but she was trying to wave it off like it was nothing. But the wind was knocked out of her. After attempting to huff out a response for a few seconds, Adam appeared in the doorway.

"What are you two doing?!" he demanded. "This isn't a gym!" He ran to the mainframe Thuy had crashed into and pushed some buttons on it, turning off the alarm system. He looked at Ty. "Put some clothes on, and both of you go to crash space. I've got enough to do around here without having to fix things you crash into." Thuy was still catching her breath so she picked up her gym bag and headed for the study. Ty scooped up his clothes and shoes and immediately did the same.

* * *

 _12:30 PM_

Ty lay slumped over a bed in the study, staring at the ceiling in utter boredom. Thuy was on the computer, typing something ruthlessly. As her fingers flew over the keyboard, Ty groaned loudly. She ignored this, and continued typing. The groaning continued. After about four or five of these, Ty finally spoke.

"Wanna play a video game?"

"No."

"Let's watch a movie."

"No."

"You hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"Horny?"

"No."

A pause.

"What?!"

Ty cackled at his own joke to the point of almost falling off the bed. Once he calmed down, his inquisition and her typing continued.

"New episode of Star Trek?"

"No."

"Record funny voices and audition for a YouTube series?"

"No."

"Have you had your daily V8?"

"No."

"Wanna make our own sitcom?"

"No."

"Allergies bothering you?"

"No."

"Are you thirsty?"

"No."

"Did you noticed I already asked that?"

"No."

"Whatcha doing?"

"No."

A pause.

"I'm working on a Creative Writing assignment."

"What's it about?"

"Ty, would you please..."

At that moment, the power cut out. The lights went black, the computer flickered out, and the usual hum of the various computers throughout the Command Center went silent. Thuy shot up out of her chair. Ty fell off the bed and scrambled to his feet. The only light available to them was a red emergency light out in the hallway, which shone dimly through the tiny window in the now-sealed electric door.

For a moment, the two Rangers didn't speak a word. This was just creepy. Then, Ty finally broke the silence. "What happened?" he whispered harshly.

"I don't know," Thuy whispered back. "The Command Center should have backups and backups for those backups. I don't know what could knock the power out."

"Ty to Billy." The communicator returned the error tone. "Ty to... everyone. Come in." Error tone. "With the Command Center's power out, communications must be down."

Thuy rolled her eyes in the darkness at the obvious statement before turning to the door. "We need to get this open." Ty walked over to the door and began trying to slide it open using brute force. After a few seconds of grunting, he began looking around for some kind of manual override. But he found none.

"Okay," Ty said, cracking his knuckles as he backed up from the door. "It's time to try the brute force approach." He cracked his neck for good measure, then danced around a bit like he was limbering himself up for the task. He braced himself, then charged.

Moments before this, however, Thuy looked out the window and saw something very troubling. As Ty rushed forward for his rather impulsive tactic, Thuy's leg shot out in front of him, tripping him. As he began to fall forward, Thuy clasped her hand over his mouth while her other arm wrapped around his torso. She slid down with him, cushioning his fall while keeping him as quiet as she could. The two ended up right next to the door, just below the tiny window. Ty struggled at first until Thuy painfully turned his head to the window. A monstrous silhouette appeared in the doorway, looking into the room. It hovered for a few moments before continuing on, seemingly satisfied. It emitted a familiar growling noise throughout.

The silhouette was gone, but the two Rangers remained frozen in place for at least a minute before they finally started breathing normally again. Ty sat up and looked at Thuy. "Was that Goldar?!" he demanded in a harsh whisper.

Thuy was too spooked to make a sarcastic remark. "Yeah... yeah, I think so." Her now-adjusted eyes began to dart around the room, surveying their options. "Keep an eye on the door, let me know if he comes by again." She stood up looked around the room, her eyes eventually landing upon a large air vent near the top corner of the room, over the desk where she'd been working. She quickly cleared her books and papers off and stood on top, grasping the sides of the air vent and pulling. But it didn't budge. With a sigh, she looked around the room. There weren't any other egresses she could find. Ty was still vigilantly looking out the window. Subconsciously, her hand moved to the back of her belt, where her missing Morpher should have been. This was a really bad time to be without it.

That got her thinking. The Morpher was just down the hall in the Control Room. They were in relative proximity to it. If she could make a connection... Thuy closed her eyes, focusing on the Sabertooth Tiger Power Coin. She could feel her connection to it. It was weak, but it was definitely there. She just needed to focus. And she mentally _begged_ Ty to be quiet while she focused.

And it worked. In her hand, a dull light flashed, and a Power Dagger appeared. Noting the light, Ty turned around just in time to see Thuy slice the vent cover off the wall and set it gently on the ground. She motioned for him to come along, and the two crawled into the vent, not sure of where they were going.

* * *

"Okay, I admit this isn't quite what I had in mind," Thuy whispered harshly as the two remained perfectly still inside the vent. Thuy awkwardly had her Power Dagger in her hand while attempting to crawl, as it had sliced her pocket open when she tried to store it. Meanwhile, Ty had his phone out for a flashlight which he couldn't keep steady while crawling. But perhaps the most damning part of Thuy's whole plan was the noise. Every 'step' they took echoed loudly throughout the ventilation system. There was no way Goldar would miss that, even if he was an idiot. At best they could try and slide through the vents using their sleeves and pants as buffers, but that would slow them down considerably.

"There's a vent cover to our left," Ty reported. "Where does that go?"

"That should lead to the VR room," Thuy whispered in response. "That's not going to help us. We need to get to the Control Room."

"Okay," Ty said. "But how? The Control Room is on the other end of the Command Center. There's no way we can get there without tipping Goldar off."

Thuy stopped to think.

"Maybe we should go for a Zerg rush and push to the Control Room," Ty suggested. "I mean it's risky, but..."

"First, there's only two of us. We can't do a Zerg rush with two people. Second, keeping our identities secret is too important an advantage to give up. Third..."

Both Rangers' heads jerked to the left when the corridor was washed in light. The bright lights of the VR training center were on and were visible through the vent cover. "Third," Thuy continued, "the power's back. That means..." What did that mean? Did Billy and Adam manage to bring the Command Center back online? Did that mean the monsters were gone?

As if in response to Thuy's silent questions, Ty began sliding down the corridor to the left slowly and deliberately. Thuy inadvertantly began holding her breath as she waited, hoping Ty wouldn't get caught. He reached the end of the corridor and peered through the grate for a few seconds before sliding backwards toward the intersection where he'd started. "Two Putties down there," he said. "I think you could take them out with your Dagger if you're quick enough."

Thuy shook her head. "No, there's no advantage to taking the VR room." She thought for a moment. "But I do have an idea. Follow me."

* * *

Billy shifted in his seat, attempting to loosen the ropes that tied him to the chair. Adam sat nearby, quiet, contemplating. Putties swarmed the control room. They weren't the issue. Goldar was.

"Even if you get free, you can't fight Goldar by yourself. The two of us aren't enough without our powers," Adam warned quietly.

"What did you do?!" Goldar's booming voice demanded as the giant golden ape rounded the corner into the Control Room. "Why is the power back, and why did a force field slice my putties in half?!" He looked around the room, as if expecting to find someone else there. "Which one of you did it?!" He approached the two former Rangers.

Billy rolled his eyes. "You set off the failsafe, you ignorant ape. The Command Center is on lockdown, and will remain as such until you are destroyed or ejected. The rest of your army will remain trapped outside due to the force field. You're welcome to leave anytime, though."

"I could destroy you!" Goldar said menacingly as he leveled a sword at Billy's throat.

Billy remained calm, however. "And that would do nothing for the lockdown. Also, what do you gargle with? Lord Zedd's...?"

"Billy!" Adam said sharply. Billy simply shrugged and stared Goldar dead in the face. "Your move, Golden Goon."

Goldar and Billy entered a staring contest for a few moments before, in anger, Goldar slammed his sword through a console. Sparks flew as the golden ape stormed off, presumably looking for a way to get his army inside the Command Center.

"Well, there go communications," Billy said dryly.

Adam stared blankly at Billy. "Did you _have_ to antagonize him like that?"

"Angry enemies make sloppy mistakes," Billy said.

"But you never know what a cornered beast will do," Adam countered.

* * *

 _1:00 PM_

It took nearly 15 minutes, but Thuy and Ty made it to another vent cover. Thuy expertly sliced it off, catching the grate, and bringing it into the shaft with her to avoid drawing any attention. The room had a single Putty in it standing guard. Thuy waited for it to turn away before silently sliding out of the vent and approaching from behind. Before the Putty had any idea she was there, her dagger sliced through it three times, sending crumbled dust to the floor where it once stood. When the coast was clear, Ty jumped out of the vent, looking around.

"Why are we back in the basement?" he asked.

Thuy turned to him. "Cross your arms."

"What?" he asked even as he did so.

Before he had a chance to react, Thuy kicked him square in the chest, right where his arms were crossed. Ty stumbled backwards and crashed into the same terminal he'd kicked Thuy into before. Immediately the alarms started going off throughout the Command Center. Thuy helped the dazed Green Ranger up and climbed back into the ventilation shaft with Ty not far behind.

They were a few rooms away when it all clicked. "I get it!" Ty said just loud enough to be heard over the alarms. "Now he can't hear us move around."

Thuy nodded as she continued crawling. "Need some light up here." Ty obliged with his phone. "Okay, next stop is the VR room. Then the lounge. Then the Control Room. We need to clear out as many Putties as we can stealthily, and find out what's going on and whether Billy and Adam are safe."

* * *

 _1:25 PM_

Their speed wasn't as restricted as before, but it still took about 30 minutes to carefully climb from the basement to the main floor of the Command Center, take out Putties in two rooms, then make their way all the way to the Control Room. The two traveled in silence, both attempting to come up with ideas on how to handle their current crisis while avoiding freaking out about what they'd find when they reached their destination. Were Billy and Adam okay? Was Alpha in hiding, or had he been destroyed? Had Zordon returned? And if he had, what could he do?

As they got closer, Thuy suddenly stopped, Ty's head bumping into her butt. He apologized immediately, but she shushed him. "Listen. No, feel." Ty held still and tried to pay attention to what he felt. Something was bumping around in the air vents. He could feel the vibrations in the metal. "It feels like there's someone else in the vent system with us," she said as quietly as she could while still being heard.

A few seconds later, they couldn't feel the movement anymore. "Watch out for Putties," Ty warned. "No way Goldar could fit in here."

"Keep moving," was Thuy's only reply as they continued toward the control room. However, she did more carefully look around intersections to make sure they weren't blindsided by enemies. Ty occasionally hung his head and peered between his legs to make sure they didn't get flanked from behind. They eventually made it to the Control Room area without incident. The vent system had come down to a T-intersection with the Control Room directly in front of them, and the back of the room, where the suit displays were, to their right. Ty shut off his light as Thuy peered into the room. "Goldar's not there right now, but the place is swarmed with Putties. Adam and Billy are okay, but they're tied to chairs across from Zordon's tube, directly in front of us."

"Wow," Ty remarked. "All that's left is Goldar monologuing the master plan at them, and this'll be a full B-movie."

Thuy shushed him again. "Focus, please. We need to..."

She was interrupted by Goldar's return. "Turn off these alarms, you pathetic clay-brains!" The Putties responded by hitting every button on the control panels, but none had any effect. The alarms kept blaring, which clearly was taking its toll on Goldar's sanity, who, in anger, sliced through three Putties with his sword, prompting the others to frantically mash buttons and dials. However, nothing would activate the holographic control panels that would grant them access to the alarm system.

Goldar stomped over toward Billy and leveled his sword at him. "I know you did this, Blue Ranger! Turn it off!"

"We have to help him!" Ty hissed.

"No," Thuy whispered harshly. "We can't do anything now. And I'm sure they're not helpless. Just wait."

Ty didn't like it, but he kept watching.

Billy kept his cool as he spoke. "I didn't do anything you mindless monkey. But I can tell you how to turn it off."

"How?!" the gold monster demanded.

"Leave, you buffoon! The alarms are going off in response to you!" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's astounding that Zedd's right-hand monkey has the intelligence of a flatworm."

Goldar roared in his face before storming off once more, leaving the control room empty except for the two bound Rangers and three Putties. "Summon your dagger. It's time."

"Finally," Ty said as he concentrated on the image of the Dragon Dagger. He couldn't do it before, but now that he was closer to the control room, he could sense his coin's presence and tap its power. "Where are our morphers?" he asked.

"Don't know," Thuy answered as she applied her dagger to the vent cover. It slid slowly, but smoothly through the metal as if it were nothing. Once she cut all four sides, she caught the metal grate and brought it in. "I'll get the Putties. You free the guys. Go!" Thuy leaped out of the vent and cleared the landing area so Ty could get out. She threw each dagger at a Putty Patroller, shattering them instantly. Before the third Putty could react, energy ropes appeared, linking her hands to the daggers. She whipped them back to her and creamed the last Putty with both weapons, reducing it to dust. Ty wasted no time slicing the ropes off the hands and feet of the Veteran Rangers.

"Where are our Morphers?" Ty asked.

As soon as Billy was freed, he was at a control panel, attempting to bypass the broken console and open up the communications channel to alert the other Rangers. "Guys... if you can hear me, we've got a huge problem here."

" _You are not even kidding,_ " came the response from Bryan.

"Where are you guys?" Adam asked as he stood up from his chair.

" _We're outside the Command Center, and it's swarmed by Putties. Are they inside?!_ " asked Kerri.

"Unfortunately, and so is Goldar," Billy responded. "We need you to take out those Putties as soon as possible. They can't be there when we lower the defense shield."

" _We got it_ ," Jake said. " _But Aiden's in a bad way. He needs treatment soon._ "

Adam began to ask how bad the injuries were, but Billy interrupted him. "Will do. Command Center out." He turned to the others. "There's a safe hidden in the base of Zordon's tube. We just need to..."

"Rangers!"

All four jumped at the sound of Zordon's voice, quiet as it was. "You're back!" Ty observed.

"Goldar is returning and will be here in the next minute."

Thuy grit her teeth before turning back to Ty. "Back in the vents. You two," she said, indicating Adam and Billy, "get back in your chairs. We'll think of something. Go!" Thuy noted Ty's annoyed hesitation before he jumped back in the vent shaft with her immediately behind him. Zordon vanished from his tube once again, going to who-knows-where.

* * *

"So what's the plan now?" Ty demanded. "I'm tired of running away."

"What's the alternative?!" Thuy demanded. "We just hand ourselves over to Goldar and his goon squad?"

"We could have gotten our Morphers, you know. I could have held him off until then. You're being too cautious."

"We have identities to protect as well was two depowered former Rangers. I don't know what world you're living in, but in this one, we need to play it smart and win this with our brains, not with a two-person Zerg rush."

"So the plan is to languish in this air vent until Goldar gets bored and leaves?"

"You're quick to criticize." Thuy pointed a finger in his face. "All you've done since this started is crack jokes, propose suicide runs, and lag a step behind me every time something happens. We don't have our Morphers. We're not Rangers. Not right now. We can't face Goldar head on without our powers."

Ty opened his mouth to retort, but paused. He thought for a moment, then cocked an eyebrow and a smirk. "You know what? You're right. We need to be Rangers. So let's become Rangers again."

* * *

Goldar entered the Control Room to find Billy and Adam still tied up, but his three Putties reduced to dust. He looked around frantically trying to figure out how his troops had been attacked with no one else in the Command Center. "What did you do?!" he demanded.

"What, you're the only one allowed to dust Putties?" Billy asked defiantly.

"Who else is here?!" Goldar screamed. "Is it that robot? Come out, little Alpha! I won't hurt you. Much. HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Of course, Alpha couldn't hear him, as he was recharging in a hidden closet.

"Sheesh, this guy goes through mood swings," Adam remarked quietly.

"ENOUGH." The booming voice caught Goldar off-guard and he jerked his head to the large tube in the corner of the room, where Zordon's face suddenly appeared. "Even tied to chairs, my Rangers are more powerful than your Putties, Goldar. Your army is trapped outside, and you have nowhere to run. Leave now, and you might survive this."

Goldar growled and leveled his sword at Zordon's tube. "Watch your mouth, old man," he threatened. "I'll slice you into pieces!"

Zordon shook his head. "Zedd gave you instructions not to, didn't he?"

Goldar simply growled in response. It was then that the Command Center shook and the sound of explosions could be heard outside. "What was that?!" he demanded.

"That would be the rest of the Rangers destroying your army outside the Command Center's dome," Zordon explained with a hint of pride in his voice. The Viewing Globe came to life as Goldar watched the scene.

* * *

"I'm going in for another pass!" Kerri shouted as the Pterodactyl swooped around. The other Rangers held on tight as she strafed the small army of Putties once more, sending rocks and dirt flying in all directions.

"We're going down on the ground," Jake shouted. "Let's go, Ranger Blue." The two Rangers leapt from the now low-hovering Zord and proceeded to fight their way through the crowds of Putties, sword and lance in hand. They took down numerous Putties as Kerri continued firing from the Pterodactyl, taking out large numbers that were still climbing the mountain to reach the Command Center.

It was getting to be too much, though. Kerri couldn't risk hitting the Command Center's shield and disabling it, so her blasts were centered on outliers and other small groups that were further from the building. But the main body began to swarm over Bryan and Jake, limiting their movement and eventually holding them in place. But the two were saved at the last second by a burst of energy arrows that struck several of the Putties that were holding them. Jake turned to see a remorphed Aiden bracing himself against the door of Kerri's Zord, wielding her Power Bow with surprisingly good accuracy. Jake gave him the thumbs up before he continued his onslaught.

* * *

"Cyrus failed," Goldar growled.

"And so have you," Zordon retorted. "Look behind you at those suits, Goldar. They represent your failures, past, present, and future. No matter what you try, what you do, there will always be Rangers standing against you."

Goldar turned around and saw six Ranger costumes. Most were from teams he wasn't familiar with, but he did recognize one of the green ones. It was Tommy's old Green Ranger outfit. "I see the old Rangers aren't in those suits anymore," he growled as he approached. He stood in front of Tommy's Green Ranger costume. "But your team of newbies will fall, I promise you! Starting with the Green Ranger's legacy." He glared at the costume, as if it was the source of all the malcontent in his life.

It soon would be.

That Green Ranger costume's fist shot through the glass and grabbed Goldar by the braids. He helped and attempted to pull back, but it was too late. The suit yanked Goldar's face down into its rising knee. The impact was loud and jarring, and Goldar fell to the ground, stunned. The Blue Overdrive Ranger burst from its case as well, ready to offer backup, but Goldar was down for the moment.

Billy leapt to his feet and accessed the safe underneath Zordon's tube. "Catch!" he yelled as he threw the Morphers at the Blue Ranger. Both Rangers vaulted over the railing onto the main floor and Overdrive Blue handed the Green Ranger the Sabertooth-Tiger Morpher. Goldar rolled over and faced the Rangers as they did something very odd; with the usual battle cries, the Blue Overdrive Ranger morphed into the Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, and the Green Mighty Morphin' Ranger morphed into the Yellow Mighty Morphin' Ranger.

"I've been waiting all day for this," Ranger Green said threateningly as he vaulted over the railing again. Goldar closed his eyes in anticipation.

* * *

 _2:00 PM_

The other Rangers helped Aiden into the Command Center once the alarms were turned off. The putty dust was everywhere, and Goldar had retreated just before Rangers Yellow and Green sliced him to pieces, ending the emergency and taking the Command Center off lockdown. The security measures were back online, and Billy was running a diagnostic.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked his son as he demorphed.

"Yeah... I'm fine. Exhausted, but fine," he said, leaning against the railing. He looked around the control room. "Goldar was in here for three hours, and the only damage was two display cases and a console?"

"And the big mainframe thing down in the basement," Ty added.

"And several vent covers," Thuy remarked.

"What caused all this?" Kerri asked.

Billy was still looking at some holographic displays. "Goldar found our hidden cache of solar panels and overcharged them, leading to the blackout. By the time I manged to get power back, he was already inside with several Putties. I've fixed the core problem by setting limiters on the solar panels' intake, but we're still going to have to move them."

"Who was that you were fighting?" Jake asked Aiden.

Aiden sighed as he slowly sat down on the step leading up to the suit displays. "Called himself Cyrus. Claimed he was one of Zedd's generals, like Goldar. Given how powerful he was, I believe it. He was toying with me the entire time. Which means we have a really dangerous new enemy to fight."

"Where's your mother?" Adam asked his son.

"I left her on a rooftop not far from where Cyrus was. She should be fine. I sent her a text a few minutes ago saying that I'm fine and that I'll meet her at home." Adam nodded with approval.

"Speaking of your mother," Billy said, "she's on the news."

 _"I'm here on-site where the monster Cyrus battled the Black Ranger. I have an eyewitness here, a Ms. Ciara Park. Ms. Park, can you tell us what happened to you?"_

 _"Well, I was out with my son, but when that monster attacked, we got separated. He's okay, by the way. But I went back to look for him, and that Cyrus creature tried to kill me! The Black Ranger saved me by dragging me up to the rooftops."_

 _"You met the Black Ranger?"_ the reporter asked. _"What's he like?"_

 _"You're not going to believe this,"_ Aiden's mother said, _"but I spoke to the Black Ranger myself. She's a woman!"_

The Rangers all turned to Aiden looking confused as the Black Ranger himself just put his head in his hands, not certain whether to laugh or cry.


	7. Cars Attacks

_Author's Note: I always intended to come back to this, but I was having so much trouble continuing. Thankfully, a good friend of mine was a big help in developing some new plots and whatnot (but don't tell him I said that, he'll get a big head).  
_

* * *

 **Chapter 7  
** _Cars Attacks_

 _Location: Angel Grove Park_

"Nonononono-!" Jake cried out as he watched the events unfold on his little screen. But his pleas were unheard as Bryan's enemy Swordmaster sliced through his Lord, routing his army and ending their little game. Jake slumped in his chair as he set his game down on the table in front of him. It was a beautiful day with singing birds, the sun was bright but hidden behind the trees of the park, and a light breeze that ruffled Jake's hair. It was calm and pleasant.

At least on that side of the table. Bryan, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically whooping and hollering over his defeat of Jake. He wasn't trash talking or insulting, but laughing and pounding the table, much to the surprise of his opponent. "You okay over there? Don't pop a blood vessel; it's just a game," Jake reminded him.

Bryan kept giggling. "Sorry, sorry. Just excited."

A nearby chair shifted on the ground, and the two Rangers turned to see Thuy joining them. "Whatcha playing?"

"Fire Emblem," Jake responded. "It's turn-based tactics. Like chess, but with more rules and statistics involved. And Bryan keeps beating me even though I can beat _Aiden_ of all people."

Thuy turned to Bryan with a bit of concern in her face. "You okay, Bryan? You look manic almost."

Bryan giggled a bit more before leaning back and sighing. "Yeah, sorry, I'm good. It's just..."

"...just what?" Jake asked.

Bryan leaned in. "So my birthday's next week. And my dad told me this morning that once he gets home from work, he's taking me shopping for my gift!"

Thuy folded her arms. "That's cool," she said, not really getting why this was so exciting for him. "Where's he taking you? Best Buy? GameStop?"

"Antiquing?" Jake added with a grin.

Bryan's face looked like it couldn't contain the joy anymore, as if it was going to crack and explode. "He's taking me to the dealership by our house."

The Yellow and Red Rangers' eyes widened as the implication set in. "Your dad is buying you a car?!" Jake finally said, his face beginning to reflect Bryan's exuberance. "That's awesome!"

"No kidding," Thuy added. "All those late hours of studying must have paid off."

"Yeah, my parents have been planning it for months. They say I've earned it because my grades have been great."

"If they only knew," Jake mused. "'Yeah, Mom and Dad, I've got straight A's, I never get in trouble, I always go to bed on time, and oh yeah, I don spandex and a helmet to fight aliens on a weekly basis and still have time for breakfast every morning.'"

Bryan cocked an eyebrow. "You know, it's not _actually_ spandex. The material is a self-assembling nano-"

BEEP BEEP BEEP-BEEP BEEP BEEP!

All three instinctively looked down at their Communicators, then looked around. The park was mostly empty, save for a few passers-by and the couple in the bushes making out where they thought no one could see them. The three leaned in and Jake pressed the button. "This is Jake, Thuy, and Bryan."

Zordon's deep voice always added a certain gravity to his statements. "Rangers, we've detected some activity on the moon. Teleport to the Command Center at once."

The three nodded to each other as they grabbed their backpacks and looked for a bathroom.

* * *

 _Location: The Command Center_

This time Aiden was the last to arrive, appearing in a burst of black energy. "You know, if I keep ditching my mother like this, I'm going to give her abandonment issues," he quipped as he approached the others. Zordon, Alpha, and Billy were there, more of a skeleton crew than usual for the Command Center. "What's going on, guys?"

"Rangers," Zordon began. "We've been having concerns about Lord Zedd's recent patterns, and believe we've hit upon a possible explanation."

"Back when we were Rangers, Zedd attacked two or three times a week," Billy explained. "But recently he's been attacking once a week at most, and the monster's he's been sending..."

"...are complete pushovers?" Ty suggested.

"More or less," Billy responded. "We think Zedd is... saving up for something."

Alpha chimed in at this point. "Despite what it looks like, magic is not an infinite resource. Zedd has a limit to how much power he can expend at one time. Creating monsters requires a certain amount of energy, and the more energy he can pour into it, the more powerful the monster is. Additionally, monsters created from pre-existing objects require less power than those created from scratch."

"Which is part of why we think he's been saving up his power," Billy continued. "Between his recent monsters being based on objects like candles and whatnot, and his increased reliance on Goldar and Cyrus for launching attacks, we think he's saving his power for a really big, long-term spell. And this pretty much confirms it." Billy tapped a few holographic buttons and brought up a brightly colored image on the screen. It was a view of the Moon, close enough to barely see Zedd's palace on it.

"What's with all the tie-dye?" Bryan asked, referring to the various colors in the image.

"Those are energy concentrations, Bryan!" Alpha said enthusiastically. "The closer to red, the more energy is being gathered in that specific area." Zedd's palace was a deep shade of red, with the colors expanding out to yellow, green, and eventually blue at the edges of the image.

"Whatever Zedd is doing, it's big, and it may be happening soon," Billy warned.

Zordon spoke once more. "Rangers, it is imperative that you remain prepared and alert. This attack by Zedd, whenever it happens, is likely to be highly destructive and difficult to predict. It may happen at a moment's notice. Please be mentally and physically prepared."

"That's all we got," Billy said. "Nothing's going on yet, but we wanted you to be ready. We could be facing a danger unlike anything we've seen so far."

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Juice Bar - Hidden Theater Room_

"Well that was ominous," Ty quipped as the six appeared in the secret Ranger Room. It was a nice room, and the group had gotten together to watch movies there once on the big screen, like a private theater. They were watching a suspenseful movie, and the tension was building as the woman approached the door and placed her hand on the knob. She slowly opened the door and... unfortunately, Zordon had cut in, his voice in stereo and his face taking up the whole screen, to alert them of an impending danger. The group was caught so off-guard, popcorn and candy went flying as the team leapt from their seats. Jake nearly punched a hole in the screen.

Needless to say, movie night wasn't a thing anymore.

"This job is giving me anxiety," Kerri expressed. "I was already worried about random attacks, but now we have to worry about him creating some kind of death beam to blow a hole in the Earth or something?"

"Don't jump to conclusions," Aiden said. "For all we know he's just baking a batch of _really evil_ cookies."

The group stared at him.

"Okay, so quips aren't my thing. Sue me."

Bryan pulled his phone from his pocket, checking the time. "Oh man, I have to go. Kerri, can you give me a lift? Is your car here? I can't be late to this!"

"Late to what?" she asked.

"Bryan's parents are buying him a car for his birthday," Thuy summarized.

Kerri smiled and grabbed Bryan in a hug. "Congratulations! And happy birthday!" They hugged for a few moments before she let go of him. "Yeah, my car's here, I can take you to your place. Let's go." Bryan and Kerri left the room.

Jake turned to the others. "You guys have plans? I was going to hit the gym. I could use a spotter or three."

"Sure," Aiden agreed as Thuy nodded silently. "I've got a few hours."

"I'm in," Ty said. "Besides, we need to be _mentally and physically prepared._ " He ended the sentence with his best Zordon impersonation.

"Let's go, then," Jake said as he headed to one of the lockers that lined their secret room. Everyone grabbed their spare gym bags as Thuy headed into the women's restroom to change. The male Rangers changed in the movie room.

" _Rangers, a source of Great Power is headed to Angel Grove. Teleport to the Command Center."_

Jake shook his head at Ty. "That's... not even a very good impression," he scoffed.

Ty was not discouraged. " _I am Zordon, and interdimensional being with a very large head and precious few other features. I require a lawnmower to trim my nose hair."_

"I wonder if he can hear us in here," Aiden mused. "He probably has sensors everywhere, right?"

That got Ty's attention as he stood up from putting his shoes on and looked around. "Wait, you think... really? I didn't mean it Zordon! Just a joke! Love you lots! You can borrow my lawnmower anytime!"

Aiden and Jake chuckled as they left through the men's room exit.

* * *

 _Location: Delgado Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge_

Bryan just kept silently asking, _is this real?_ as his father brought him to the dealership. "Take a look around before a salesman spots us," his father said. "If one hasn't already."

Bryan knew the price point he'd been given, and it only took two seconds to find what he wanted. "There!" he said as he pointed to his chosen vehicle: a cobalt blue Jeep. It was rugged, could go off-road, and was probably more likely to survive a monster attack than most of the other vehicles on the lot. Bryan's father was taken aback by his son's decisive speed at choosing a car, but he shrugged and followed the excited Bryan to the vehicle. He checked the window, spotting the ticket for $18,000. It was a used Jeep, and the odometer read a little over 50,000 miles. Overall, it wasn't a bad-

"Ah, an excellent choice." The voice was... _dripping_ with excess. Bryan could smell the obsequious tone. He and his father turned their attention to the salesman. He was a handsome blond man in a casual suit. No tie, nice pale blue dress shirt with top two buttons undone, black slacks, and shined dress shoes. But everything about his voice was just... grating. Definitely had that stereotypical salesman vibe. "This Jeep is in excellent condition. But if you're looking for Jeeps, I've got a model that's even newer, has less miles, and is a better value, dollar-for-dollar..."

Bryan's father started shaking his head. "We're just looking around, we'll let you know if..." He was stopped when a large man walked up behind the salesman. And he was _large_. Like a bodybuilder. He was a Latino man, well over 6 feet tall, made entirely of muscle. The only reason he didn't look completely intimidating was the soft expression on his bespectacled face.

"I got this, Pryce," he said simply. Pryce shrugged and walked away. "Hi, my name's Danny. I'm the owner of this dealership. It's nice to meet you. Looks like your son is rather excited about this Jeep here," he observed. Bryan's father turned to look at his son, sitting in the driver's seat and just touching everything in the vehicle like he'd just discovered a lost civilization beneath the sands of Egypt or something. He should have told Bryan to tone down the enthusiasm, but it hadn't crossed his mind.

"Yes, well we're still looking around. We've got several cars to go through and-"

"How does $12,000 sound? No APR for the first year."

Bryan's father was shocked for a moment. "That's $6,000 off the list price..." he blurted without thinking. He really shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but 6K off the price and no haggling required? And no interest for the first year was nice. Honestly, he could probably pay it off before the interest even kicked in...

Danny nodded. "Well, it's a good vehicle, and I think your son will treasure it. And it's a really safe model, which I know must be important to you. I'll be in my office over there. If you make your decision, let me know and I'll get you set up." He pulled out a gold flip phone and opened it, reading something on it for a moment. He chuckled, closed the phone and pocketed it, walking away.

* * *

 _Location: The Moon_

Cyrus' footsteps echoed through the otherwise silent palace. Putties stood at attention wherever he went. Zedd's palace was not a place full of life. It was order incarnate. Aside from himself and of course Lord Zedd, all the creatures that lived within were constructs - products of Zedd's dark magic. There wasn't much activity - Putties never moved unless told to do so. Goldar was likely in his chamber, meditating as he often did. Only Cyrus kept constant watch over the planet. And something had pinged his sensors.

As per usual, Zedd's throne was turned away from the entrance, facing toward the wall. Lord Zedd preferred to sit this way. He could hear anyone who approached, but by facing the wall, his concentration wouldn't be broken as he worked on whatever spell he was planning to cast.

As Cyrus took the obligatory knee, the throne slowly began to turn until Lord Zedd was staring him down. "Cyrus. I trust this disturbance means you've found something?"

"Yes, my Emperor," Cyrus replied in his usual supplicating tone. "I've detected a charge of Morph Energy on the planet's surface. It's odd because newer Morphers are shielded so that these readings would be impossible. I'm not entirely certain who we're detecting. The location is in Angel Grove at a small vehicle shop."

Zedd stood, gesturing for Cyrus to do the same as he walked to the balcony. Using his far-range vision, he peered down to the Earth's surface, scanning for the location as Cyrus provided directions. "Hm. I don't see anyone that looks like a Power Ranger. But we can't let this opportunity go to waste. Zordon needs to know that every slip up he makes will be met with retribution." He thought for a moment. "I need to conserve power, but I do have an idea. The Rangers will never know what hit them!" He erupted into laughter as he twirled his staff and fired a bolt of lightning at the planet.

* * *

 _Location: Delgado Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge_

Bryan's father and Danny shook hands once the final form was signed. Bryan's eyes were as wide as saucers as his father dangled the keys in front of him. "Here you go, Bryan. You earned it." It took every ounce of willpower not to screech as he gently took the keys from his father's hand. He held them in his palm, staring at them, eyes sparkling.

Dreams come true. Life is worth living. Hard work begets rewards.

"Is this normal?" Bryan's father asked. "He's been staring at those keys for over a minute."

"It's a teenager's-first-car thing. He'll be alright."

"I guess you see this a lot. Seriously, I managed to get the car insured in the time he-"

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Bryan hugged his father very abruptly and with a little too much force before racing out to his new Jeep. Once his father caught his breath again, he smiled and followed.

"You be careful in there," he said as Bryan started the car. "Follow all the traffic laws. Don't go too crazy out there. If anything happens, you call me."

Bryan nodded excitedly, and his father stepped out of the way with a welcoming gesture toward the gate. Bryan shifted into Drive and carefully left the lot.

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Juice Bar - Gym_

"Come on, you weakling! I've seen maggots with more upper body strength than you! Push! Push like you're giving birth you sad sack of waste!"

Aiden put the weight bar back on the bench press and sat up, giving Thuy a very confused look. "Is any of that necessary?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"What, you didn't think that was motivational?" Thuy asked innocently.

Jake shrugged. "I'm feeling motivated."

"If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you," Aiden said with a joking/mocking tone to his voice.

BEEP BEEP BEEP-BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The group was up and heading up the stairs, into the bathroom, through the special door, and into the Theater. They braced themselves for what was coming next.

"Rangers!" Zordon's large face and unnecessarily loud booming voice still surprised them even though they were prepared for it. "Lord Zedd has released a monster on Angel Grove. Morph, and Alpha will teleport you to its location." The screen went dark.

"You heard him," Aiden said, brandishing his buckler. "It's Morphin' Time!"

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove North Suburban District_

"Rangers, you're here!" shouted the monster. It was a hideous one, too. Bright blue, and seemed to be patterned after some kind of car, but warped and twisted in places. It had arms and feet that could be retracted into alcoves on its body, presumably to make it more car-like. "I'm MegaVan, and I hope you're ready to roll!" The creature, while bipedal, fell on its face and began to drive forward at high speeds. The team vaulted out of the way just barely. MegaVan swerved and spun 180 degrees, then stood back up.

"Where's Ranger Blue?!" Aiden demanded quietly over their comm link.

"Ai yai yai! I can't get him on the communicator!" Alpha yelled in their helmets.

"Can you get his location?" Ty asked.

"His signal is being muffled somehow, but the computer says he's in your area somewhere."

Aiden grit his teeth. "Red, Pink, spread out, see if you can find him somewhere around here. Don't go too far in case we need you."

"Right!" they both said before running off.

"Green and Pink, try to stick to close-range attacks. Don't give him a chance to pick up speed."

"What's wrong, Rangers? Lost your drive to win?" the monster taunted.

"Why is it okay for him to make puns, but not me?" Ty complained as they rushed forward.

"Less talking, more slicing!" Thuy cried out as she took the first slash at MegaVan. It did considerable damage, but not enough to stop it from grabbing her arm and tossing her in the air. Aiden followed up with a slash from his Power Ax, but it jumped back before he could make contact. While it was distracted, Ty came up from behind and began launching a barrage of kicks at its back which knocked it off balance. It rolled with a grunt, then fired energy beams from its headlights. Ty took the hit and rolled to the ground amid a shower of sparks, groaning.

"Man, this minivan is rough..." Ty said as he tried to push himself up.

Aiden launched an attack from the side as MegaVan was powering down from its laser attack. He leapt into the air and aimed his Power Ax at the headlights, but the monster turned and fired. "My name is MEGAVan!" it shouted with disdain. Aiden tried to use the blade of his Ax to block the damage, but being in the air, he had no traction and was sent flying into a nearby tree. He struck one of the higher branches and just barely managed to grab onto it before he fell, only for the branch to snap and send Aiden to the ground anyway. While he recovered, Thuy launched her Power Daggers from energy chains to strike the monster. When the daggers embedded in the monster's armor, it turned to her. "Looks like you could use a jump start!" Electricity traveled through the daggers into the energy cable, and finally into Thuy herself, who screamed as she was shocked for a few seconds before falling to the ground, the daggers and chain disappearing.

MegaVan charged its headlight lasers and fired at Aiden once more, who was still recovering at the base of the tree. He threw up a hand in an instinctive attempt to protect his face, but Jake leapt in from nowhere and deflected the blast with an expertly-placed slice of his Power Sword. The energy was drawn into the blade, then deflected as he sliced outward, sending the energy off to the side harmlessly. "We can't find him anywhere," Jake reported as he took a defensive stance against the monster, who found itself pelted with arrows from Kerri's Bow. "We didn't find his Morpher or Communicator either."

"We'll have to worry about that later," Aiden said, managing to stand to his feet. Thuy and Ty were up and moving, too. "Thanks for the save. We're going to have to attack him from every angle we can. Hopefully we find Bryan soon. Let's go."

* * *

Bryan couldn't move. His throat was scratchy from screaming where no one could hear him. His car had suddenly closed up on him, and it was dark and cramped. He couldn't get the torque to turn the steering wheel anymore, and he couldn't see anything outside. There was movement and shifting, and a stomping noise, too. He had no idea what was going on, and he couldn't reach his communicator even though it kept going off.

"Rangers, you're here!"

...what?

"I'm MegaVan, and I hope you're ready to roll!"

The voice was loud and close. It took only a moment for Bryan to put it together. Zedd... turned his Jeep into a monster?! That's low! Then the panic set in. He was _inside_ a monster. Was he... being digested?

No, that was silly. He was just trapped in the cab. But he felt immensely grossed out being inside a monster and began screaming again. "HELP! HELP ME!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Nothing.

* * *

"No..." Jake said quietly as he pressed his blade against the monster. It pushed back hard, but they were at a stalemate for a moment. "Everyone, be quiet!" he hissed in his helmet comm. The others were confused, but they'd learned to listen to each other without asking too many questions in combat. "Alpha, call Bryan again! Now!"

There it was. The faint sound coming from the monster. "What is that noise?!" it demanded. "I've been hearing it all day!" It finally punched through Jake's attack, sending him skidding back several feet.

"Guys, Bryan is _inside_ the monster," Jake whispered. "We need to get him out."

"Oh god," Ty said, sounding like he was going to throw up. "Is he... okay?"

"I heard him screaming, and the Communicator confirms it," he said as Kerri distracted the monster with another barrage of arrows from a nearby treetop. "He's trapped in there. I think Zedd turned his new car into a monster while he was still in it."

"Oh no, Bryan..." Thuy said. "Alpha, can you teleport him out?"

"Ai yai yai, Rangers! The monster's body is obfuscating his Morpher and Communicator signals! Without a clear reading of one or the other, his molecules could get scattered by a teleportation attempt!"

"Then how do we get him out?" Thuy demanded.

Aiden thought for a moment. "I realize this isn't much of a plan, but we need to attack even more intensely. Give it everything we have."

"What if we hurt Bryan in the process?" Kerri asked as she loosed more arrows.

"We have to try and keep our attacks away from the cab of the minivan," he said. "Aim for the wheels, and... taillights."

"That's a roundabout way to say 'butt,'" Ty interjected.

Kerri, still firing at the monster, wasn't impressed with the idea. " _That's_ your plan? Beat it up until it breaks?"

"No," Aiden said, brandishing his Power Ax. "Beat it up until it gets stronger."

The Rangers, not spending any more time on discussion, began to strike MegaVan with a barrage of ranged attacks, close-up strikes, and minivan puns from Ty. They were knocked around a lot by the monster, but still managed to maintain the upper hand between the speed of their attacks, and the occasional creative move. At one point, MegaVan got on its wheels and tried to run Ty over after a particularly bad pun ("Shoot me, MiniVan Solo!"), but a blast of ice to the ground from the Power Ax sent it skidding into a fire hydrant.

"I hope we're not hurting him," Thuy said as she brought down another slice of a dagger onto the monster.

"The monster or Bryan?" Ty asked. Jake responded by giving Ty a shove as he walked over to MegaVan and jammed his Sword into the space between his undercarriage and an axle. He began to pry with the monster shouting all the while. "Hey, she wasn't clear. Antecedents go with pronouns, you know."

"Shut up, Ty," Kerri said as she fired at the back "windows" of the monster. They were reinforced, but after the fifth arrow struck, a crack formed. "When is this plan of yours going to work, Ranger Black?" she asked sounding very tired. "I don't know how much longer we can keep this up."

"We don't have to. Clear out now!" Aiden shouted.

* * *

"Was that an explosion?!" Bryan blurted out when he heard what sounded like a bomb go off outside. It was still too dark to see and too cramped to move, but that was about to change. Suddenly, the walls that had been confining him started to move away as he felt the sensation of being in an elevator traveling to the top floor of a skyscraper. He yelped as the movement came to an abrupt stop, and his ears popped. Was he... in the air?

The realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he moved for the door. He felt for the window control and pressed the button, relieved that the window actually opened. The sense of relief was short-lived, however, as he looked out into low-hanging clouds and the faded gray view of Angel Grove well in the distance below him. "Oh crap!" he yelped. His hand went instinctively for his Morpher, but he stopped himself. If he morphed inside the monster, he'd be giving away his identity. Did the monster even know he was in here? It never said anything to indicate that.

Meanwhile, his beautiful new Jeep was stomping around, trying to smash his friends. He peered out, trying to figure out what to do next when a face appeared in the window... except it was a helmet.

"Aah!" Bryan yelped at the unexpected visitor. He shuffled into the passenger seat as the visitor jumped in. He was a Power Ranger! But Bryan couldn't tell what team he was from. He wasn't terribly familiar with all the Rangers that had appeared over the years. He was obviously a Black Ranger, with a gold sash design across his chest. There was a golden patch of a bison on his chest, and the outfit was completed by white gloves, gold cuffs on his boots and gloves, and a bison-themed helmet.

Bryan had the sneaking suspicion that his powers were based on a bison.

He was larger than most Rangers he'd seen. Including his team, the majority of Rangers had lean muscular builds. This guy was buff. Like a bodybuilder. "How ya doing?" he asked, putting a hand on Bryan's shoulder.

"I-I've been better?" he said tentatively, taken aback by the Ranger's casual tone.

"Time to get you out of here and back to your friends," he said. Bryan intended to question what he knew of his friends, only to be grabbed and tossed out the window. He felt the wind blowing on him as he screamed his way toward the ground. But immediately after being thrown, the Ranger leapt out, catching him, and tumbling into the nearby sea of trees in the park. Bryan came out without a scratch. "Okay, I think you need to get out there and help your team."

Bryan's eyes widened. "Wait, you-"

The Bison Ranger nodded. "Yeah. And you have a job to do." Bryan hesitated. The Black Ranger saw this and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. Your first car. The bad guys have a bad habit of destroying things we love." Bryan looked shocked again. How much did this guy know about him? "But when you picked up that Morpher, you swore a duty to Angel Grove, and the Earth, and all her people. We have to sacrifice a lot to be Rangers, but remember that the Spirits of the Earth are guiding us. And remember that you have to do what needs to be done. You're a guardian of the Earth, like me. You have the power. Good luck, Blue Ranger." With that, he leapt into the air, arcing over the tall trees and out of sight. Bryan was still shocked, confused, and upset, but he knew what he had to do. Even if it hurt.

"It's Morphin' Time!"

* * *

Bryan raced out of the trees to meet up with the other Rangers. MegaVan had lost interest in the Rangers and was starting to head downtown. "About time you got here!" Ty said. "We were going to start without you."

"Hey, are you okay?" Aiden asked.

"Were you actually inside that thing?" Thuy asked.

"I'm _so_ sorry about your car, Bryan," Kerry sympathized.

Bryan shook his head. "What's the plan?"

The Rangers looked at each other, then back to Bryan. "We have to destroy it before it destroys the city. I'm sorry, Bryan."

Bryan turned away from the others and stretched his hand to the sky, a grim look of determination under his helmet. "We need Dinozord power _now_!"

* * *

"Triceratops! All systems go!" Bryan shouted as he placed his hands on the controls. Driving the Zords was like second-nature now, though he wasn't sure how much of this was the suit driving, and how much was him. And for all his training, and for all the work he'd put in, he was still annoyed that the combining sequence he'd practiced at least 50 times was actually an automatic function. All the practice was just a contingency in case of some kind of catastrophic failure.

The tank-like Triceratops raced through the desert into the outskirts of town, arming its missiles when it got in range of MegaVan. "Triceramissiles, Fire!" he shouted, as the monster shrieked and stumbled backwards from the assault. Every missile hit its mark with brutal accuracy.

"Bryan," Aiden said over a private channel.

Bryan didn't let him finish. "I'm fine," he said quickly. "Earth first, now and always." Bryan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The communication line opened to all the Rangers. "Let's do it, Rangers. We need some Megazord power now!" Aiden's order rang out, and the team began the transformation sequence. The Triceratops' tail folded. The Tiger's tail did as well while it flattened down to match the height of the Triceratops. The T-Rex folded its legs as the Mastodon broke apart, the four Zords combining, then raising to stand. As the Pterodactyl made its approach, the T-Rex head folded down into its chest, and the two crests on the side of the head folded out.

"MEGAZORD ACTIVATED."

All the Rangers sat in the cockpit, adjusting their various systems. Each of them could feel the presence of the others, not just physically, but mentally. They were in full sync, and knew what to do and when to do it.

The Power Sword erupted from the sky, the Megazord catching it with ease. MegaVan began a charge in full vehicle mode, rolling straight down the highway, crushing vehicles in its path, straight for Megazord. In response, the Rangers thrust the Power Sword into the ground at an angle. When MegaVan hit it, Aiden shouted "NOW!" and the Megazord pressed on the sword. Acting like a ramp, and then a crowbar, the monster was lifted up and flipped upside down like a turtle, helpless and struggling to right itself.

"It's time to teach Zedd that destroying people's stuff isn't going to win him any battles!" Bryan shouted, taking control of the right arm. "Power Sword, Final Strike!" The Megazord arced the blade through the air in a circle, drawing energy from the Earth itself. Once the blade reached the zenith of its path, it slashed down hard on MegaVan's exposed undercarriage. The monster screamed as it began to explode.

"You guys have some serious road rage!" he shouted as he vaporized in a massive explosion. Megazord lowered its sword, victory achieved.

"Truck you!" Ty shouted. The other Rangers groaned loudly as they flopped back into their seats. "Seriously? You only groan when _I_ do it?"

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Park, 20 minutes later_

The debrief from Zordon was quick. Congratulatory, but with no words of condolence for Bryan, who stood quietly through it. He now sat in the same seat at the park, staring at his _Fire Emblem_ game, not making a move against the computer. Jake found him and sat down across from him, sitting silently for a few moments. Bryan finally spoke. "It's fine, you know. I get it, Zedd's going to keep coming for us. For Earth. And he'll use whatever he can to destroy us. And sometimes he'll get lucky and deal a more painful blow than even he realizes."

Jake looked at Bryan sympathetically but said nothing. There wasn't much he _could_ say. Bryan was handling this about as well as anyone could be expected to.

"I just have no idea how I'll explain this to Dad," Bryan continued.

"I think I can help with that," a familiar voice said. The two jerked their heads to see Danny, the car salesman from before. Had he overheard their conversation? Were they careless? No, Bryan thought. He began putting the pieces together as the man continued. "I spoke with your father. Told him about this terrible oversight we made about your vehicle. A recall. Had to take it back. But I replaced it with a higher-value Jeep. Less mileage, better gas consumption. He faxed the paperwork over and I told him I'd contact you to return the old Jeep." Bryan and Jake's faces were frozen in confusion. "It's not quite the same model. A bit newer, but the color's more 'sky' than 'cobalt,' but I figured you wouldn't mind."

Bryan stood up and walked over to the man, giving him a big hug. Danny returned the hug, careful not to squeeze him too tight before they separated. "It's in the parking lot," he said, tossing a set of keys to the young man. "Drive safely. And keep fighting the good fight, Blue Ranger." His voice lowered to almost a whisper as he finished speaking. He turned and walked away.

Bryan stared at the keys in his hands with a tear in his eye. He was so relieved. So happy. This was the best-

"Who the hell was _that?!"_ Jake demanded.

Bryan smiled. "A friend. A... guardian of the Earth. I'll tell you about it later. C'mon, let's take a test drive."


	8. Game Plan

_**Author's Note:** After watching Dimensions in Danger, I'm at least temporarily setting this story in the main universe following the end of Super Megaforce... at least until I decide how to reconcile the events that take place in that episode. That said, I'm mildly tickled that I named Kat and Tommy's son Jake, and in continuity, his name is J.J._

 **Chapter 8  
** _Game Plan_

 _Location: Command Center_

Hours passed. Billy was running every scan known to every advanced civilization in the galaxy, and nothing was turning up. Tommy was about to put his fist through the monitor, and Kat was about ready to charge in herself. Adam had already disabled the teleportation system to keep her from doing just that.

"We can't wait any longer!" Kat yelled out, shoving Adam away from her. "Our children have been in there for three hours and there's still no sign of them!"

"Their powers are still active, meaning they are alive," Billy repeated for the fifth time. "But rushing in there unprotected won't net you a better result than they got."

"So what, then?" Tommy demanded. "We're not exactly accomplishing anything now. How much longer are we going to stand here?"

Adam and Billy exchanged glances. Neither of them had a good answer. The best Adam could come up with was, "Two civilians walking into what is very clearly a trap aren't going to fare better than morphed Power Rangers. I'm worried about Aiden just as much as you two are worried about Jake, but we can't just run in blind."

The Viewing Globe showed an image of Angel Grove Park, shrouded in an unnaturally black fog. It was clearly some kind of darkness-inducing spell, and when the Rangers went to investigate, the fog itself reached out and grabbed them, dragging them in. That was three hours ago, and the Rangers hadn't made radio contact since. Their powers were still active, meaning they were morphed, but no other readings escaped that bizarre blanket of fog.

"You keep calling us civilians," Tommy said, pulling up a sleeve. On his wrist sat a golden device atop a black wristband. It had lost its initial luster over the years, but it was still instantly recognizable. Tommy had his Zeonizers on him. Adam recalled that he had left the Command Center an hour ago to try and walk off the stress. What he'd apparently done is grab his Zeonizers.

Kat pulled up a sleeve to reveal her own Zeonizer on her wrist. "You can't seriously be considering this!" Adam said.

"You don't have _any_ room to talk, Adam," Kat shot back. "Not after what you did during the invasion."

"I was still a kid back then," Adam argued back. "We're all older now. You should know better!"

Billy sighed. "Enough!" he shouted, causing everyone in the control room to look at him. "Arguing isn't going to help anything." He pulled up a holographic panel. "I've got your Zeonizer scans here, and I've re-enabled the teleportation system. I know nothing's going to stop you, but I can at least attempt to keep your powers stable while you go after them. But if you're not back in an hour, I'm cutting you off."

Tommy and Kat both nodded. They understood the risks of what they were about to do.

"Fine," Billy said.

"Aiyiyi Tommy! Are you both sure this is a good idea? You know that the Zeo Powers aren't what they used to be!" Alpha was clearly distressed.

"I don't care," Tommy said. "I'm a Power Ranger until the end. And right now, our son needs us."

"No more debate!" Kat demanded. "It's Morphin Time!"

Both Rangers raised their arms, bursts of pink and red energy trailing from their fists. In unison, they brought the two Zeonizers together, opening the panel and releasing the Zeo Sub Crystals to line up with the panel. "Zeo Ranger One! Pink!"

"Zeo Ranger Five! Red!"

The two vanished almost instantly and Billy was already hard at work keeping their powers stable. Meanwhile, Adam felt a shudder run through his body. He could feel the Zeo Crystal straining.

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Park_

"More Power Rangers?" asked the bewildered cop. "You guys look familiar, are you one of the older ones?"

"Something like that," Tommy said, his bright red costume shimmering in the sun. "We're here to investigate this phenomenon. Can you tell us anything about it?"

"Only that it's terrifying," Officer Terrell responded. "We lost eight police officers to it, the same way the other Rangers got grabbed. "We haven't been able to make contact when them since we lost them an hour ago. But other Officers and scientists have gotten close and weren't grabbed. It's like this thing has a quota or something."

"Thanks, Officer," Kat responded. "Keep your men safe, we'll look into this." Courteously, Officer Terrell lifted the crime scene tape for them to duck under, not that it was necessary. The two walked forward to the mass of black fog. Tommy felt a chill go down his spine as he stared into the darkness. "What do you think, Tommy?" Kat asked, snapping Zeo Ranger V out of his trance.

"I don't know, Kat. I thought getting closer would give us some answers, but I honestly don't see anything that can help us."

"The last two I need," a voice called from the darkness. Tommy summoned his Zeo V Power Sword and took a defensive stance. Kat drew her Zeo Laser Pistol and aimed at the mass. "Ranger royalty came to me. This couldn't be more perfect. I just need to shift a few things around."

"What have you done with the other Rangers?" Kat demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Billy opened the comm line. "Get out of there now!" he shouted. But it was too late. The fog had formed into giant hands that reached out and grabbed the two Zeo Rangers and dragged them, screaming into the darkness.

"I'm ready," the voice taunted, loud enough for all of Angel Grove to hear. "Bring me a master so we can play this game to the end."

And then, nothing but silence.

* * *

 _Location: Command Center_

"Readings are stable, nothing has changed," Adam reported as Billy rushed to another control panel. "I'm not getting enough of a signal to teleport anyone. Everything's identical to what happened to the others."

Billy slumped into a chair, rubbing his forehead. "We have to be missing something," he mused, staring at the readings. The Zeo Powers weren't fluctuating at all. They should have been. The Zeo Crystal was drained years ago with the war against the Machine Empire and the United Alliance of Evil. While the Crystal would always recharge itself, the rate at which they used it outstripped the speed at which it regenerated, leaving the Crystal weak and unstable. Sure, if they had another three thousand years they could fully recharge it, but... it was odd that the powers weren't fading or destabilizing at all. It was like they were in stasis or something.

Their thought processes were interrupted by flashes of light blue and yellow. The two turned to see familiar faces standing in the Command Center. "Tanya? Rocky?" Adam said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I felt the Zeo Crystal... straining," Tanya responded, with Rocky giving a confirming nod. "What's going on?"

Adam gave the short version of what was happening, the two recently arriving veteran Rangers looking at the various holo-panels across the room.

"Man, this is weird," Rocky said, pointing to one of the panels. "Are you sure these systems are working? If it wasn't for the clock, I'd think the computer was completely frozen."

That was the first breakthrough Billy needed. "The Rangers are frozen. It's like time is stopped. None of them are responding because no time is passing for them. That's the only explanation as to why the Zeo powers are so stable despite being used. Fluctuations come with time."

"Okay," Adam said. "But what did that voice mean? And who did it belong to?"

"I'm not sure on either count," Billy admitted. "It may just be another generic monster. But it said a lot. 'Ranger Royalty... bring me a master so we can play this game to the end.'"

"And that Tommy and Kat were the last two he needed," Adam reminded him.

"Meaning he has eight Rangers," Tanya said, the answer starting to come to her.

"And... wait, didn't that cop say...?" Rocky started.

"Eight police officers!" Adam confirmed. "So he has eight Rangers, to include 'Royalty,' and eight police officers. And he wants to play a game."

"Exactly. Zedd just set up a game of chess!" Rocky shouted excitedly. But he paused. "...wait, why would Zedd set up a game of chess?"

"It's a distraction," Adam concluded. "Just like every other monster attack he's launched since he came back. He's got a master plan, but he's trying to keep us busy. This is just another over-the-top distraction."

"Yeah, but if we lose this match, we lose our Rangers and a bunch of cops, too," Rocky observed. "This isn't exactly a fair match."

"We don't exactly have much of a choice, do we?" Billy asked rhetorically as he called up the teleportation panel.

"What are you doing?" Adam quizzed.

"I need you three to monitor the Zeo Powers, make sure they don't go too far into flux once the fog lifts. I've got a game of chess to win."

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Park_

A flash of light blue and Billy appeared, right next to Officer Terrell. He yelped and jumped back, then peered at the man, wondering who he was. Billy didn't care about keeping his identity a secret. Not only was he no longer a Ranger, but he also had no identity on Earth, not after spending so many years on Aquitar. He lived in the Command Center and only left for supplies or fresh air. He had no ties to any of the current or past Rangers outside of coming from the same city. The whole world could see his face and it would mean nothing.

"Who are you?" Officer Terrell asked.

"Billy," he responded. "Technical advisor to the Power Rangers."

Officer Terrell's first reaction was to be skeptical, but he _did_ just see the man materialize from nothing. "I don't think you should get too close. That thing has already taken eight Rangers and eight Police Officers. I don't need it snatching civilians, too. Even civilians working with the Power Rangers."

Billy waved him off. "It's not going to take any more people," he said as he ducked under the police tape. "It has what it needs. I'm the last piece of the puzzle." Officer Terrell moved to stop him, but decided against it. This was way above his pay grade. "The game master is here, Zedd!" Billy shouted to the sky. "Let's do this!"

Underneath the former Blue Ranger's feet the ground began to shake. Without further warning, a circular piece of ground shot straight up in the air underneath Billy, raising him up two stories. The entire time, Billy stood, arms folded across his chest, unmoving. The black fog began to disperse, revealing a massive chessboard. On Billy's side stood his allies. Zeo Ranger V and I as the King and Queen, respectively. Two Bishops (Kerri and Thuy), two Knights (Jake and Ty), and two Rooks (Bryan and Aiden). As he suspected, the eight captive officers served as the pawns. On the opposite side were monstrous versions of chess pieces, all dark, as if made of shadows, with glowing red eyes. Just beyond them was the new General, Cyrus, elevated just as high as Billy.

As the last of the fog cleared, Billy's communicator started going off with a vengeance. Every Ranger on the board was frantically asking what was going on, trying to get status reports from each other, and were failing to activate the Teleporter. Finally, Rocky's voice broke through it all. _"Guys, cool it! You've been in suspended animation for hours because Zedd thought it would be fun to start a game of chess with you guys as the pieces. We're working on getting you free, but something in the area has our teleporter disabled. Hang tight, we're doing all we can."_

 _"In the mean time, Billy's going to focus on the chess game,"_ Tanya cut in. _"As long as we can keep that general of his occupied, we should have time to figure something out."_

Some of the officers tried to walk away but were rewarded by crashing into an invisible force field. Soon, they'd taken to it with their nightsticks, though to no avail. One of the officers began to draw his pistol. "Don't!" Aiden yelled, causing the officer to hesitate. "This barrier might ricochet the round back into you!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" the cop demanded.

"Sit tight," Jake said. "There are a lot of people trying to get us out of here. They'll come through."

"You may go first," Cyrus said smoothly. The sound of his voice sent a chill down Aiden's spine. He hadn't encountered him since the incident at The Grove. "Seems fitting I give you a sporting chance."

"Got tired of Goldar kicking your butt?" Aiden shouted in an unusual move of arrogance.

Cyrus smirked. "Try not to take offense to your position on the board. You were supposed to be the King, but how could I pass up Zeo Ranger V himself? Besides, you're certainly a defender, aren't you?"

"Whatever," Jake yelled. "The King's the worst piece anyway!" He realized what he said as it left his mouth and could feel his father's eyes boring holes through his helmet.

"Enough chit chat," Billy said loudly. You want to play? Let's play. How are we doing this?"

"Descriptive or Algebraic Notation will work," Cyrus responded, the fingers of his left hand caressing the hilt of his blade. "The board is very smart. The question is, are you?"

Billy took a deep breath. "What happens to the 'pieces' that get captured?"

"Why, they're put away in these boxes." With a gesture, large force field cages appeared on either side of the board. "The loser's pieces are destroyed, but only after the game is over."

"And if I don't agree to those terms?"

"Then the pieces are destroyed now." The transparent force field around Billy's leftmost pawn suddenly turned a visible red, and electricity surged through the officer, causing him to scream and drop to his knees. It ended very quickly.

"Okay!" Billy shouted. "I'll play your game."

"I knew you would," Cyrus replied smugly. "Still your move."

Billy brought his Communicator to his face. "Guys, ready your weapons. I don't know how the capture part of this works, so be prepared to attack any monster that comes after you." He lowered his wrist and shouted loudly. "Knight to C3!"

Jake yelped in surprise, gripping his sword as he was suddenly lifted into the air, then lowered onto an empty space in front of the police officers. "Whoa!" he yelped once he got his bearings. "That was weird."

Cyrus took his time. He wanted this to last, and he was enjoying the game thoroughly. "Pawn to King's Knight Four!" he shouted, and one of his pawns advanced two squares.

"You need more modern books," Billy said as he examined the board. "They stopped using Descriptive Notation in the 80s. Pawn to G4!" A police officer yelped as he was tossed forward two spaces.

Cyrus chuckled, but kept his eyes on the board. "Oh, but there's a certain romance to it that Chess Algebra completely lacks. Knight to King's Bishop Three!"

The game crawled on, each player taking care to make the best move possible. Billy wasn't sure where this was going, but he was playing it overly safe. He was certain he could beat Cyrus, but he wasn't so sure he could trust this "deal" of his that if he won, everyone would go free. In a normal chess game, he wouldn't have minded sacrificing a pawn or three to achieve a greater goal. This wasn't really an option when his pawns were real people. He was distracted, and it cost him his first casualty. "Queen's Pawn to King Six!" Cyrus shouted.

His pawn shifted diagonal to an empty space, but the Police Officer behind the pawn suddenly sank through the floor with a scream as the square beneath him turned red. He materialized in the force field box to Billy's right.

"That can't be legal!" Kerri shouted. "The pawn didn't even touch the officer!"

Everyone turned to look at Bryan, even Kat and Tommy. Bryan piped up immediately. "The move is called _En passant_. If a pawn moves two spaces forward and passes through a square threatened by an enemy pawn, that pawn can be captured in the next round only, like it was taken during its movement. It's almost like interrupting your opponent's last turn to catch them while making a mistake. Only really advanced players are familiar with that rule."

Ty's heart sank. "Are you kidding me? It's bad enough this guy is an evil swordfighting whackadoodle, now he's some kind of chess master?"

"Pawn F to E3!" Billy shouted, and an officer flew toward the evil pawn. Before they made contact, the pawn sank into the now red square, which turned back to black in time for the officer to land safely. It was a solid move, but it was a retaliation and nothing more. The officer was already captured, and Billy cursed himself silently for forgetting _En passant_.

"Rook to Queen's Rook Three!" Cyrus shouted as his castle turret slid into place.

But Billy's earlier forgetfulness reminded him of another move he could pull out. "Castle King Side!" Bryan yelped as he was suddenly thrown into the air, and Tommy was grabbed at the same time. The two passed each other and landed side by side, Tommy now closer to the corner of the board. Everyone looked at Bryan again.

"If a Rook and the King haven't moved yet and there's no other pieces between them, you can Castle them, meaning they cross each other, allowing the King to move more than he normally can. It's the only move that lets you move two pieces at the same time, and it can only be used once per match."

"Any other wacky rules we should know about?" Thuy asked.

Bryan simply shrugged. "None that I know of. Then again, I never played Telekinetic Force Field Life-Size Chess before."

"You should check out the televised tournaments," Ty said dryly. "They're something to behold."

* * *

 _Location: Command Center_

"Tell me you have something," Rocky said as he looked up from a console. "I don't know how much longer the Zeo powers will remain stable."

"Nothing!" Adam said, clenching his fists. "The teleportation system can't get a lock on any of them, and we can't risk Kat and Tommy demorphing with all those cameras and civilians."

"How much time do we have?" Tanya asked.

"My sensors indicate that with enough intervention, the Zeo powers will fail in approximately thirty minutes," Zordon boomed.

Rocky looked at Adam. "That is _super_ creepy."

"Focus, Rocky," Adam barked. "Keep your eyes on that panel. Hopefully someone will figure out something."

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Park_

Billy was in a bad place. He'd already lost three officers, and now Cyrus' knight had taken Bryan. The Blue Ranger yelled as he sank into the chessboard, appearing next to the police officers in the force field box. While Billy had taken several pawns from Cyrus, he hadn't managed to capture any of his more important pieces. Plus, Cyrus didn't care what happened to his pieces. Billy was playing with real people.

"Having fun?" Cyrus asked with a grin.

"Not really," Billy muttered under his breath as he stared at the board. He could beat Cyrus. He just needed to focus.

"Me either. Let's make it more interesting." Billy looked up, eyes wide. This couldn't be good... and it wasn't. With a snap of his finger, the box began to shrink, the ceiling coming down on them. The officers yelped and stumbled, unsure of what to do. "Now it's a game of speed chess!" he said with a wink.

Bryan acted quickly. "Power Lance!" he shouted. When the weapon materialized in his hands, he slammed it down into the cement beneath them as the field began to press on it. The Lance bowed a little, but stopped for the moment. "This won't last!" he shouted, his eyes scanning the board in front of him. He had a side view of the chess game, but could offer little advice to Billy that he wouldn't already know.

Billy looked down at the board and analyzed it as quickly as he could. "Queen to A4!"

As Kat shifted positions on the board, Bryan had nothing to do but think. He had to figure a way out. Initially, he thought he'd find a way to bust out of the force field, but he quickly came to the conclusion that winning the game, or otherwise ending it somehow, would be their best bet of surviving this. So he started from the beginning. He closed his eyes to concentrate, trying to block out the sounds of the battle.

* * *

 _Location: Command Center_

The room was completely silent, except for the sounds of holographic panels beeping and swirling around the Control Room. The Zeo Crystal had negatively spiked, and none of them had managed to apply a patch in time. By Zordon's most recent estimation, they had maybe ten minutes. Rocky walked to the Viewing Globe and stared at the match as Billy made one frantic move after another. Another pawn lost. Another enemy pawn taken. Rocky always had faith in Billy before, but he was still human, no matter how intelligent he was. More moves exchanged, and it was clear that Billy was playing on the defensive. He didn't know much about chess, but he knew a losing battle when he saw one.

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Park_

Bryan kept his eyes shut, actively blocking out the sound of cracks forming in his Power Lance as the weight of the force field continued to place stress on it. _Zedd's been gathering energy on the moon,_ he thought, trying to put everything in order. _He's collecting and conserving it for an unknown purpose, which is why his recent monsters haven't been that powerful. I can't imagine Zedd would waste that massive amount of energy on such a gimmicky plan. No, this is just Cyrus having fun. What was it Alpha said before? It takes less energy to create a monster from an object than it does from scratch. That would explain why there's a massive chess board with chess pieces. But making_ that _many monsters from a single object seems oddly inefficient._

 _That's only the first thing that doesn't make sense. There's also the mechanism by which the game works. We fly from place to place, like we're being thrown around telekinetically. When a piece is captured, no attack is launched. Why make all those monsters if they're not going to attack? Captured pieces sink into the board._ Bryan took a deep breath. He felt like he was getting closer. _The pieces sink into the board... the board... wait, Cyrus said something, didn't he?_

 _"Descriptive or Algebraic Notation will work. The board is very smart. The question is, are you?"_

Bryan's eyes shot open. None of the chess pieces attacked. Captured pieces were sucked into the board. The fog around the board could attack people. But there was no way Zedd made _that_ many monsters. _"The board is very smart."_

Bryan opened a communication line inside the Rangers' helmets. "Guys, I figured out a new rule for the game, and it blows _en passant_ out of the water. Summon your Power Weapons. _Aim for the board._ "

The others didn't question anything. "Power Ax!"

"Power Bow!"

"Power Daggers!"

"Power Sword!"

"Dragon Dagger!"

"Zeo I Power Disc!"

"Zeo V Power Sword!"

Every Ranger (save for Ty) also grabbed their sidearm. With unparalleled synchronicity, all six Rangers slammed their weapons into the ground beneath them, simultaneously firing their sidearms at full burst. Cyrus called out for them to stop, but it was too late. All the force fields went down. Energy and sparks erupted from beneath the Rangers' feet. They, along with the chess pieces, were bucked off into the dirt as the board jerked into the air. The top layer of the outermost rows folded like origami into sharp fangs. It was a huge chess board monster that planned to chew the Rangers up.

Seconds later, Zeo Rangers I and V were teleported away, leaving Aiden's team to finish the battle. "I could have beaten him," Billy muttered under his breath as he too teleported back to base.

The monster lunged with an inhuman groan, but found its mouth stopped, propped open by a timely throw of the Power Lance. The Rangers scrambled to regain their footing as the monster bared down and finally snapped the Lance in half. The energy surge caused Bryan to go flying, screaming as he crashed into a nearby bird fountain. "Yellow, to Blue. Green, blow this popsicle stand. The rest of you, take out the chess pieces." Aiden saved the more dangerous job for himself as he began firing a beam of ice at the monster board, trying to slow it down. He kept backflipping, kick flipping, and every other kind of flipping maneuver he could think of while he dodged the monster's attacks. "Sergeant!" he shouted. "Pull your men back! We got this!"

Kerri's arrows found the rest of the pawns while Jake's Power Sword cut through a Knight like butter, and his momentum carried him into a horizontal slice through a Rook. Their defenses were practically nonexistent, and they weren't exactly putting up much of a fight either. Jake's sword cut through the two Bishops, the last knight, and finally the Queen. After finishing the Putties, Kerri fired four arrows at the Rook, disintegrating it. Both set their sights on the King. Kerri fired a charged up energy arrow just as Jake thrust his blade through the monster's torso, and with a squeal it evaporated.

"Checkmate!" both Kerri and Jake yelled at once.

Jake opened a private line to Kerri. "Don't tell Ty I said this, but that was kinda cool." He was already running back toward Aiden.

"Your secret's safe with me," she chuckled as she began running back herself. But both were stopped at the sound of a trumpet. They both looked up to see Ty up on the stone where Billy had stood, playing his Dragon Dagger. With massive stomps and a screeching roar, the Dragonzord approached. Changing directions, Kerri and Jake began to clear the surrounding area of civilians, as a few straggling reporters had stayed behind.

"Now!" Aiden yelled, and the entire team leapt up and landed on the Dragonzord's shoulders, Ty landing on its head.

"Alright, Dragonzord!" Ty yelled. "Game over!" With a tune from his flute, the Green Ranger ordered the Dragonzord to arm its finger missiles, which fired in rapid succession at the partially frozen monster chess board.

No explosion had ever felt so satisfying.

* * *

 _Location: Command Center_

The Rangers returned to find Kat and Tommy sitting in chairs, looking absolutely exhausted. Using the Zeo Powers drained them more than they let on. But what caught their interest was a wall panel that was open, one that they never knew about. Inside, on top of a high-tech looking plinth, sat the legendary Zeo Crystal itself. It looked dim, failing to produce more than a faint glow that could be dwarfed by a simple nightlight.

Billy stepped forward and explained the history of the Zeo Crystal, starting from its placement, all the way to Master Vile's attempt to take it. He further explained what happened after that. "Each of the Rangers kept their subcrystal when it grew weak. They tried to return it to the Caves of Deception, but Thrax, son of Rita and Zedd, came after it. They had to reclaim it, but its powers are regrowing too slowly. Using the crystal is dangerous."

"Which explains why you guys never use those powers," Thuy said. She'd been wondering about that for a while. "You used them so heavily against the Machine Empire, there just wasn't anything left."

"Before I left for Aquitar, I built the Turbo powers, using these massive, power-generating crystal caves on Eltar to serve as their power source," Billy explained. "Since the powers were based off-Earth, I either had to use Eltarian creatures as the base, which would have made them unstable given my unfamiliarity with Eltarian zoology, or base them off inanimate objects that didn't need living DNA to operate. So I ended up just making cars."

Ty slumped into a chair as well. "That was harrowing. That chess game... I already hated chess, but now? Checkers for life."

"I wouldn't get too comfortable with that," Aiden warned. "Pretty soon we'll be facing Checkers, Backgammon, and Mancala monsters."

Kerri clasped a hand on Bryan's shoulder. "Nice job figuring out the board was the monster."

"Yeah, that was really something," Rocky agreed. "Reminds me of old times. The Blue Ranger figuring out the puzzle."

Bryan grinned. "Well I had to do _something_. Billy was really struggling out there."

The group started laughing at the taunt. Billy smiled broadly and walked over to Bryan. "You want to go? I have a chess board."

Bryan backed away. "No thanks. I think I'm good on chess forever."

Laughter and conversation continued, but eventually echoed away, leaving Adam and Billy in the Command Center together. It was late at night, several hours after the battle ended. The two former Rangers stood watching the image of Zedd's palace gathering more energy. Zedd hadn't stopped, and power readings were going off the charts.

Something was going to happen. And the Rangers were _not_ prepared.


	9. Breaking Black

_A/N: It's time for some old-school Power Ranger shenanigans!_

 **Chapter 9  
** _Breaking Black_

 _Location: Angel Grove High School_

"So..." Kerri prodded. "Who are you asking?"

Thuy sighed as she pulled the spoon of yogurt from her mouth. Three Rangers were eating lunch together in the cafeteria, and Kerri was being particularly boisterous. It was February, which meant the big Valentine's Day dance was around the corner. "I don't know that I'm asking _anyone_ , and I don't know who I'd ask even if I _were_ to ask someone."

The dance's premise was basically the old _Sadie Hawkins_ concept, where the girls asked the guys to the dance. It wasn't traditional to combine the dance with Valentine's Day, but the girls loved it despite the more assertive guys' grumbling. Most of the guys in school, however, were happy to have the pressure off, even if they'd never admit it. "Someone's _going_ to ask you, Aiden. Any thoughts on who that will be?" She was only this excitable because she'd already asked out a guy in her Government glass and he agreed to go with her. Aiden had wondered if anyone on the team would end up dating each other, but it seemed they all had the same idea - dating within the Rangers would cause more problems than it would solve.

Aiden glared at the sandwich he was eating. He hated pimento cheese. "You think they'd get mad if I morphed and vaporized this sandwich?" he asked quietly, causing Thuy to snicker.

"You grab your dad's lunch again?" Thuy asked.

"I lost all respect for him when I learned he liked pimento cheese," he joked, though there wasn't much mirth in his voice. "People wonder what superheroes are like outside of their superhero lives? Apparently it's pimento cheese. Never meet your heroes."

"You're being dramatic again," Thuy warned.

"You're both trying to change the subject," Kerri warned back, onto Aiden and Thuy's little game. The two had been friends longer than the rest of the group, and they had their own codes and signals to fall back on. "Aiden, a little bird told me..."

"You _are_ a little bird, _Pterodactyl_ ," Aiden grumbled.

Kerri glared, but continued undaunted. "...told me that Maria Fuentes might be asking you to the dance."

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Kerri, do you _have_ to be so... high school about all of this?"

"Hey, we deserve normal lives, too," she argued back. "No matter what else goes on, we get to enjoy the high school life, even if it's a bit more hectic for us." Aiden simply rolled his eyes in response. "Is he always this uptight?" she asked Thuy.

"Leave him alone," Thuy shot back. "We're all under a lot of pressure."

"Look, I'm not going to the dance, alright?" Aiden said, finally tossing the sandwich in a nearby trashcan and gathering his belongings.

"Why not?" Kerri asked, similarly disposing of her trash and getting ready to follow.

Thuy turned to Kerri. "He has his reasons. He doesn't have to..." She was stopped by Aiden putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine," he said as the group began to leave. Their next stop was one of the school's computer labs to catch up on some homework. "Kerri, the premise of this dance is that girls ask guys out, right?"

"Yeah." She wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"If a girl asked me out to a dance, I'd say no," he asserted. "I'd have to."

Her eyebrow cocked in confusion. "Any girl at all?"

"Yep." He remained deadpan as they turned a corner.

"Even Maria Fuentes?" she confirmed.

Aiden and Thuy exchanged glances. Kerri either wasn't getting it, or wasn't comfortable drawing the conclusion. "Yes, Kerri. Even her."

"And why... would... you...?" Her words slowed as the synapses began to connect. "Oh. OH! _Oh._ "

"I think she got it," Thuy said with a chuckle.

"Ohhh..." Kerri muttered as the group entered the lab. It was empty, as it always was at lunch, plus they always selected the most out-of-the-way lab to use. The three sat down next to each other and powered on their computers.

"Did we break her?" Aiden asked.

"Oh?" Kerri responded.

"You know, Kerri, there are twenty-five other letters to choose from," Thuy said with another eye roll. "You're not limited to that one."

"Oh..."

"Kerri, I'm gay, not the secret princess of Luxembourg," Aiden said with annoyance.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. Aiden facepalmed. "You know, I've heard rumors that Tim Broker, the guy from yearbook..."

" _Oh my god, stop it_ ," Aiden interjected. "You are _not_ going to set me up with some random guy because you heard he _might_ be gay." Thuy was cackling at this point. "Oh, this is funny to you, is it?"

"My point, Aiden, is that the dance isn't closed off to only straight people," Kerri insisted. "I'm sure it's fine if you ask a guy. Surely you must have _someone_ you're interested in." A pause. "I swear to god if it's Jake..."

"Oh _hell_ no," Aiden blurted without thinking. "I mean... no, it's not Jake. _Never_ Jake." Thuy kept cackling. "Keep laughing, Thuy. Let it _all_ out." She was unfazed by his piercing glare.

Kerri leaned in, and Aiden soon realized his mistake. _**It's** not Jake._ Indicating that there was someone Aiden _was_ interested in, and now Kerri was not going to let this go until she knew. "Oh god _fine_. His name's Eric. He goes to our martial arts studio. Has for years. He's also in Chemistry with me."

"Aiden can't take his eyes off him," Thuy 'helpfully' added, earning a glare from him. "Especially in that sleeveless gi."

"Silence is golden," Aiden hissed. "But _duct tape is silver_."

Kerri leaned in even more, causing Aiden to recoil a little. "So, you two have... _chemistry."_ Aiden nearly fell out of his chair in disgust. "When are you going to ask him out?"

Aiden started trying to stammer out a response, but Thuy cut him off. "He won't. Aiden doesn't think he's good-looking enough to attract Eric's attention. The guy's last boyfriend looked like a Bowflex model."

" _Thuy!_ " Aiden hissed, teeth clenched. " _That's. Not. Helping."_

Kerri just laughed and was about to offer some words of encouragement, but the familiar tone emitted from their Communicators. "Saved by the world-ending threat," Aiden said. "Hopefully we don't miss class over this."

* * *

 _Location: Command Center_

Ty arrived in a flash of green energy. "Sorry! Sorry, I was in traffic of all things. Hard to teleport in traffic." The Command Center was all but empty. Billy was who-knows-where, but the rest of the Veteran Rangers had day jobs.

"What were you doing in traffic?" Bryan asked. "It's the middle of the school day."

"I do a thing at the local elementary school. Tutoring kids in reading. It's fun."

"Rangers," Zordon's voice boomed, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "I'm sorry to call you at such an inconvenient time, but Zedd has sent a monster to _The Grove_."

Aiden looked at the others. "Not another shopping trip."

"Does this one have a gimmick?" Bryan asked.

Alpha piped up. "Our sensors haven't picked up anything yet, but its appearance seems to be modeled after an upcoming Earth holiday."

"Oh, don't tell me..." Jake lamented as the group turned to the Viewing Globe.

It was all kinds of pink. It looked like a jackal in Valentine's Day-themed armor. Its face was covered in dark brown fur, and its armor was several shades of pink with several of its plates being heart-shaped, covered in spikes, and the monster had wrist-mounted cannons on each arm. It was growling and tearing up patio furniture with its canine-like claws as cafe patrons shrieked and fled.

"We don't have a lot of time to mop this up so let's get out there." Aiden looked to the others who gave him a silent nod to indicate they were ready. "It's Morphin' Time!"

* * *

 _Location: The Grove Shopping Center_

"Hey!" Ty shouted, pointing at the monster. The rest of the Rangers braced themselves for what was coming next. "You! With all the hearts! You're under _arrest!_ "

No one chose to react, lest they encourage the behavior. "Less talking, more shooting!" Kerri shouted as she loosed a few arrows from her bow. They ricocheted off the creature's armor, as did the shots from their Blade Blasters, the projectiles striking the ground around the monster.

"Looks like we're doing this close range," Jake said, brandishing his Power Sword. Everyone raced forward, taking whatever openings they could as the monster clawed back at them. Kerri and Ty took some damage, but kept going. The weapons were having more of an effect, but the armor was really tough. Strike after strike only barely affected the creature, but each claw attack sent a Ranger flying in a shower of sparks. Jake thrust the blade of his Power Sword into the gap between two armor plates, but it got lodged there. He frantically tried to remove it, but ended up being kicked back several feet for his trouble. The jackal grabbed the sword and threw it, the hilt striking Jake in the chest as he attempted to stand once more. He fell back on his butt.

The rest of the Rangers rushed all in, weapons drawn, ready to strike at once. But the jackal creature was ready. It slashed the air with its claws in a huge arc, creating a claw-shaped energy burst that raced toward the Rangers. Time slowed down as Aiden analyzed his options. It was low to the ground, so Aiden managed to jump straight up, but the angle caught the other Rangers off guard, and they shouted as they fell to the ground once more. Jake took more severe damage as he was still recovering from the last attack. This one sent him rolling into a nearby street sign.

Aiden landed in a three-point crouch. He stole a glance at the other Rangers who were starting to recover. "You guys okay?!" he demanded frantically, quickly looking back to the monster. He couldn't take his eyes off it for too long. There was no telling what its next move would be. One or two of the others answered back, but Aiden didn't hear it. The monster's spikes were starting to glow with a vibrant purple hue. It was charging up for some kind of attack.

None of the other Rangers were ready to dodge something like that, so Aiden raced close. "Time to try out this new weapon Billy developed. Mammoth Shield!" In his left hand, a shield in the shape of a mastodon's face appeared, tusks and all. It was essentially the same shield the Megazord used, but much smaller. This one was light enough to be lifted, but tall enough to be lodged into the ground and braced against Aiden. He did just that, slamming the pointed bottom of the shield into the concrete and bracing for impact, crouching down to ensure he was fully covered.

Each spike fired a small laser beam at an angle, all the beams meeting in the center in front of the monster. It formed a ball of energy that grew with each passing second. Aiden braced himself, fully behind his shield and heard it fire...

...and nothing. No impact. No energy. Just sound. Aiden opened his eyes to see the monster's residual energy fading. It was starting to droop like it had just run a marathon. "Wow," he muttered. "The kinetic dampeners on this shield are _awesome!_ " He summoned his Power Ax for a counterattack, but the monster vanished in a bolt of lightning, retreating for the moment.

Aiden rushed to the others, offering them a hand up. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah," Thuy replied. "I think we're good." The rest of the team nodded in agreement before returning to base.

* * *

 _Location: Zedd's Moon Palace_

Cyrus' footsteps echoed through the empty chamber as he approached the throne once more. He took a knee, as usual as the throne began to rotate around. "Cyrus." Zedd's deep, gravel-like voice filled the room with malice. "What is the status of Adorebus?"

"He's recharging as we speak, Lord Zedd," Cyrus said, not taking his eyes off the floor. "Based on my personal observation of the battle, the plan was an absolute success. We need only wait for it to bear fruit."

"How much time?" Zedd asked. His tone was intense, but in all honesty, he really didn't care that much. This plan could fail - because his master plan couldn't.

"I would wait one full Earth rotation at minimum," Cyrus responded. "That will give the spell time to take hold."

"You are dismissed, Cyrus," Zedd said even as his chair rotated back around.

* * *

 _Location: Angel's Defense Dojo  
Time: 21 hours later_

"Kerri, what are you doing here?" Thuy demanded as her pink teammate approached.

Kerri shrugged nonchalantly. "Your dojo offers trial classes. I signed up for one this morning."

Thuy's expression flattened. "No, what you signed up for is to check out Eric and try to push Aiden into asking him out."

She responded by putting her hands behind her back and arching her spine, her head tilted to look like an innocent schoolgirl. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she said in an overly saccharine voice. "I just came to learn some new martial arts techniques!"

"Uh-huh. And I'm the Purple Ranger," Thuy said flatly as they entered.

The class went as expected. Kerri joined the white/yellow belt half of the class while Thuy and Bryan resumed their usual training. Kerri was very inquisitive toward the Sifu, asking all kinds of questions about the art and discipline both before and after the class, while keeping her eye on Eric. But, the session overall was very odd, and Thuy couldn't help but feel a little unnerved as the three emerged from the building two hours later.

"I've never seen Aiden miss a Saturday morning class before," Bryan said, breaking the silence.

Thuy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's really weird."

"I texted him during the break," Kerri said, "but I still haven't heard anything back."

Thuy whipped out her phone, unlocking it, and selecting Aiden from her favorites. She held the phone to her ear for several seconds while the other two watched before she ended the call. "Voicemail."

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Gym and Juice Bar_

 _"Here?!"_ Thuy demanded. Aiden's body jerked in surprise, but he regained his control and gently set the bench press bar back on its stand. He sat up and wiped his face, looking at the other Rangers around him. _"This_ is where you were?!"

Jake folded his arms. "Seriously, dude, at least answer your texts. You've been ignoring us all day."

Aiden cocked an eyebrow before lying back down and lifting the barbell once more. The rest of the Rangers gave him a confused look as he continued his bench presses without a single word.

"Are you listening to us?" Kerri said, nearly shouting.

"You never miss a day at the dojo, Aiden," Bryan said. "You should let a guy know. We thought you were sick or something."

Still no response. Aiden kept going with his exercise.

"You even ignored your _communicator!_ " Kerri's last word was a harsh whisper. "Why are you acting like this?"

Aiden finally spoke, his eyes completely focused on the bar in front of him. "I'm _busy_ trying to get back into shape. Whatever else happens, happens." It almost looked like even his own words were beneath his notice.

The group turned to look at each other in utter confusion. This was not how Aiden acted ever. This dismissive attitude made no sense.

And that's when it clicked for Jake. "Guys, movie room, _now_. Except you, Aiden."

The others looked at Jake confused, but relented without another word. Aiden rolled his eyes and continued his bench press exercise.

* * *

 _Location: Command Center_

Multiple flashes of light and energy later, most of the team was assembled in the Command Center. Jake, Aiden, Kerri, Ty, and Thuy were the first to arrive before Tommy, Kat, and Adam showed up a minute later. "What's going on?" Tommy asked. They wouldn't have called him from Saturday detention if it wasn't important.

"How often in the old days did someone act weird and no one really thought much about it until it turned out they were under a spell?" Jake asked.

"Way too many times," Tommy said.

"A _lot_ ," Kat agreed.

"Pretty much all the time," Adam added.

"It was really common, Rangers," Alpha contributed.

"It's hard to keep track," Zordon said.

The active Rangers looked at each other as they began to put together why Jake called them all here. "You think Aiden's under a spell?" Bryan asked.

Adam stepped forward. "What about Aiden?" he demanded, his tone more forceful than usual.

Jake responded. "Aiden's been acting weird all day. Maybe it's nothing, but I had to be sure. He's snubbing us. He skipped class this morning, ignored his texts, didn't answer his Communicator, and now we can't pry him out of the gym. He's refusing to talk to us practically, and when he does, he's really rude about it."

"Alpha, bring up Aiden on the Viewing Globe," Zordon ordered. Aiden's image came up, showing him attempting to do arm curls with massive dumbbells. He grunted loudly with each repetition, but it came slower and slower each time. He was also wearing a very tight tank top, which wasn't his usual choice in workout clothes, and tight shorts.

"I don't think Aiden can safely lift that much," Jake said.

"You're right, Jake. Based on his body mass and muscle size, coupled with his exercise regimen, Aiden is attempting to lift more than what is recommended to avoid injury." Alpha's analysis, while spot on, was a little creepy to the Rangers. How much did Zordon and Alpha know about them?

Bryan shook his head. "I'm not sure I get it. I mean, what kind of spell makes someone a rude, compulsive weightlifter? And how did he get cursed anyway?"

Adam walked to a control panel. "I think I know," he said. He pulled up footage of the battle with the Valentine monster. As it charged up a beam of energy, Aiden pulled out his Mammoth Shield which seemed to take the hit. The other Rangers and Aiden himself didn't get to see what happened, as they were either incapacitated, or in Aiden's case, braced behind the shield. But the replay showed the beam striking the shield, then spreading a pink energy over it, onto Aiden. The energy coated him entirely before vanishing. Then the monster retreated. "That beam wasn't offensive. It was one of Zedd's twisted spells."

"Zedd loved to take inspiration from our daily lives to craft spells and monsters," Tommy explained. "This might be what he's done."

"You sure?" Kerri asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Nothing happening to Aiden right now seems very Valentine's Day-ish."

"Whatever his motivation was, can we fix it?" Thuy asked. "Do we have the means to analyze and counteract the spell?"

"I'm afraid not, Rangers," Zordon said, his booming voice commanding the attention of the room. "Without understanding the nature of the spell, we can't counteract it. You will need to continue to observe Aiden, possibly even protect him from harm, until we can discern exactly what Zedd did to him. The only other option is to destroy that monster; destroying the source of a spell ends the effect of the spell in most cases."

"And until Zedd sends it back down, that spell will keep dogging Aiden," Ty said, earning glares from everyone in the room, Zordon and Alpha included.

Adam walked up to the team, putting a hand on Jake's shoulder. "You did good coming to us with this. Keep an eye on him when you guys are out and about. I'll watch over him at home. One way or another, we'll fix this."

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove Juice Bar and Gym_

Thuy and Jake stood in the doorway of the Juice Bar's gym room, looking at Aiden. He was now hitting a punching bag rapidly. More than once he'd hit it too hard, causing it to swing back and knock him off balance. He was covered in sweat, his stance was sloppy, and he looked dead tired, but he pressed on anyway. Bryan and Kerri joined them, watching Aiden break down. It was late. The Juice Bar had closed an hour ago, but Kat had been ineffective in getting him to leave. "Is he _still_ at it?!" he demanded.

Thuy nodded. "We tried to stop him, but he just kept acting aggressive and angry at us." Aiden stopped punching briefly and flexed a bicep, staring at it before returning to his workout.

"Let me give it a shot," Bryan said. "Maybe he'll be nicer to me about it." Bryan's reasoning was that Aiden kinda saw him as a little brother figure, and could be protective of him at times. He didn't want to say it out loud, but maybe that emotional response would kick in and disrupt the spell somehow.

Jake gestured welcomingly to Bryan in Aiden's direction. "Be my guest," he said. "Hopefully you have better luck than we did."

Bryan swallowed hard as he approached. "Aiden! Hey, Aiden, don't you want to grab a snack or something? You're pushing yourself really hard."

"No," he said curtly as he continued to punch the bag.

Bryan turned to look at Thuy and Jake who shrugged in unison. No help there. He turned back to Aiden. "C'mon man, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep this up. Maybe you should-"

Aiden abruptly whirled around and shoved his chest into Bryan, causing him to stumble back. "Maybe you should mind your own business. Maybe you should refrain from telling me what my limits are. Maybe you should back off before _you_ get hurt!" His eyes were wide, his stance puffed up. It was almost cartoonish how "manly" he was trying to look.

Jake and Thuy raced to Bryan, pulling him back and putting themselves between the two. Kerri approached slowly, watching the situation but not wanting to escalate it.

"Back off, Aiden!" Jake said. "The hell kind of leader attacks his team?!"

"Oh, this is about my leadership, then?" he demanded. "What, you think you should be leader again?"

"That's not what he said, Aiden," Thuy said. She sounded firm, but felt hopeless. How was she supposed to argue with a magical spell? "Stop acting like everyone's challenging you. That's not what's happening here."

"Oh, I think it is," Aiden shot back. "Mr. Red here wants his old job back. He thinks he can sow dissent, make everything think I'm not the best leader! Well, too bad! I'm the best thing that's ever happened to the Power Rangers!"

Jake's face contorted into utter confusion. "The hell?! What kind of dumbass statement is that?!" he demanded. "You think you're God's gift to-"

BEEP BEEP BEEP-BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Aiden didn't twitch from his posturing pose, while everyone else jumped at the sound of the Communicator. Kerri answered. "We read you..."

"Rangers!" Billy's voice rang out. "That monster's back at _The Grove_. Teleport to the Command Center so we can discuss your plan of attack."

Kerri opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Aiden's surprising shout. "YES! Finally, time for some action! Follow me! It's Morphin Time! Mastodon!" The other Rangers stumbled back from the surge of energy. By the time they recovered, Aiden was gone.

* * *

 _Location: The Command Center_

Aiden twirled on a heel, delivering a clockwise slash from his ax at the monster, who stumbled back in response. "That's right!" he shouted. "You got nothin' on me!" The other Rangers were watching on the Viewing Globe as Aiden tried to take the monster on single-handedly. His strikes were weaker than they should have been, which was to be expected as the man had tired himself out pretty badly, and while he was doing damage, the monster was recovering and counterattacking far more quickly than it should have been able to.

"We gotta get out there," Ty said. "Aiden's gonna get his butt whooped if we don't help."

"That's if he _lets_ us help him," Thuy said. "Any luck figuring out what's wrong with him?"

"Not yet, Rangers," Zordon responded.

Kerri was lost in thought, though, as some pieces were starting to come together for her. Aiden checking his biceps. Challenging everyone. Going after the monster solo. It was like... he had something to prove. He was being overly tough and... it came off like he was trying to be more masculine? Kerri suddenly snapped her fingers. "You guys, I got it! Go help Aiden, keep him alive. I'll work with Billy, Kat, and Alpha on an antidote. Go!"

Everyone looked to Thuy, Aiden's choice for second-in-command. She nodded. "Alright, join us when you can. It's morphin time!"

Once the others left, Billy turned to her. "What did you figure out?"

"Well, earlier, I was talking to Aiden about-" Adam teleported into the Command Center. "-ships and sails and ceiling wax!" Her eyes bugged out and her voice sounded frantic all of a sudden.

"What?" Adam demanded.

"I-uh, well... nothing, I was just about to explain... so... what were we talking about?"

The Veteran Rangers looked at each other, confused. "Kerri, what are you hiding?" Kat asked pointedly.

* * *

 _Location: The Grove Shopping Mall_

"You!" A slash. "Messed!" Another slash. "With!" Slash. "The!" Slash "Wrong!" Slash. "Ranger!" A final slash. Aiden backed up to view his handiwork, only to see that his strikes had mostly glanced off the creature's gaudy pink armor. "What?!" he demanded, gripping his Power Ax even tighter. "You think you're tough?! I'll show you tough!"

Aiden lurched forward, exhausted, ready to strike once more, but was held back by a powerful hand on his shoulder. It yanked him back, causing him to stumble and land on his butt. "I got him!" Ty yelled.

"Good!" Thuy yelled. "Let's get this thing and break that spell!" The remaining Rangers summoned their Power Weapons and charged the monster, while Ty held Aiden in place, who kept struggling to stand. His weakened state made him easy for Ty to control, but his temper was raging and he was only getting louder and angrier. Meanwhile, the other Rangers were barely holding their own against the armored beast, who had gotten really good at deflecting their weapon attacks with its metal plating. "This isn't working!" Thuy yelled as she threw her Power Dagger at the beast. It clinked off, flew up into the air, then arced back to her hand.

Jake was about to suggest forming the Power Blaster when he took a laser shot to the back. He shouted and fell over, stunned for the moment. Ty looked down to see Aiden had brandished his Blade Blaster and had tried to fire at the monster. "Get out of my way!" he shouted as he began to fire wildly, the other Rangers dodging out of the way, and Aiden hitting pretty much everything _except_ the monster. Ty reached for the blaster, but Aiden kicked him away, standing and firing once more, his aim slightly improving as the laser grazed the monster, but mostly hit armor.

Ty tilted his head. "Why are you firing left-handed?" he asked.

By this point Jake had recovered and stomped over to Aiden. "I know why," he said, grasping Aiden's right shoulder. The Black Ranger howled in pain and collapsed to one knee, trying to fight Jake's grip. "He sprained his damn shoulder from weight lifting irresponsibly." Aiden continued to howl as Thuy grabbed Jake's wrist.

"I know you're pissed, but don't forget this isn't his fault," she said simply. Jake stared at her, then softened his grip, but kept control of the spandex on the man's shoulder to keep him in place. Meanwhile, Ty and Bryan continued to engage the monster. "I hope Kerri figures this out soon," she continued. "We're outmatched here."

* * *

 _Location: The Command Center_

"Is _that_ why you were acting all squirrely?!" Adam demanded, throwing his hands up. "I _know_ Aiden's gay. He came out last year! Can we focus on an antidote please?!"

Kerri turned red. "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I just..."

"Enough," Billy said. "Adam, I know you're worried, but you preached caution and patience when Kat and Tommy were worried about Jake. Now _you_ need to stay calm. Kerri, what did you figure out?"

The Pink Ranger nodded and took a deep breath. "So, Aiden mentioned he had this thing for a guy named Eric..."

"...this isn't going to be one of those long he-said she-said stories, is it?" Adam asked, folding his arms.

"What? No!" Kerri shot back. "Anyway, Thuy... said..." She suddenly looked embarrassed. "UGH! Look, the point is Aiden was afraid to ask Eric out because he didn't feel like he was muscular enough. Then today while he was working out, I saw him trying to measure his own biceps. Then he kept challenging everyone, and when Jake brought up that Aiden wasn't acting like a proper leader, Aiden practically _blew up_ in his face about it in a 'you-think-you're-better-than-me' kind of rant."

"So what are you saying?" Kat asked.

"I'm saying I think Zedd's monster manipulated Aiden into feeling insecure. Insecure about his looks, his leadership, his masculinity, all of it. He's acting like a threatened dude-bro trying to score man-points or whatever."

"I believe Kerri's estimation to be correct," Zordon said. "Zedd enjoys tampering with the delicate balance of human emotion. Fixing this will not be easy."

Billy and Adam both snapped their fingers at the same time and looked each other in the eye. "Yes it will!" they shouted.

* * *

 _Location: The Grove Shopping Mall_

Kerri appeared on the field, holding the Power Bow. "Billy's working on an antidote. Let's end this now!" she shouted. The other Rangers nodded and grabbed Aiden's Power Ax from the ground, quickly assembling it into the Power Blaster. Once it fully formed in the air, it descended into Aiden's hands, one of which couldn't support the weight due to his strained shoulder.

"I can hold it on my own!" Aiden shouted, trying to balance the full Power Blaster in his hands. The other Rangers rolled their eyes and continued to hold the blaster. "Fire!" they all shouted in unison. The burst of multicolored energy flooded over the monster, causing it to explode.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Kerri remarked as the blaster broke down and vanished.

"Aiden, are you okay?" Jake asked, taking his hand from his shoulder.

Aiden responded by kicking Jake to the ground and pinning him. "If you _ever_ flout my authority on this team again, I swear-" Before he could finish, the rest of the team was all over Aiden, dragging him off Jake as he kicked and screamed.

Jake went straight for his Communicator. "It didn't work! The monster's gone, but Aiden's not doing any better!"

 _"Teleport back to the Command Center, all of you,"_ Zordon ordered.

* * *

 _Location: The Command Center_

"You think you can lead this team, you self-righteous, rule-flouting, sanctimonious...?" Aiden shouted. Jake's jaw clenched but he remained still, just waiting out Aiden's anger. But the Black Ranger's sentence was cut short when a white surge of energy flooded the Command Center. When it died down, a woman, about the Veteran Rangers' age, was standing there. Her presence was very calming, and Aiden suddenly backed down. She smiled warmly and removed a gold necklace from around her neck. At the end of the golden chain was a heart-shaped ruby framed in gold. She draped the necklace over Aiden's neck, then proceeded to hug him warmly. He froze in place, then his muscles began to relax as a red energy scattered from his body. She held him tightly before helping him sit down in one of the nearby chairs.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Aiden looked dazed and disoriented. "I... I just..." Then his eyes widened as he looked around the room. "Oh my god. Oh... my god. I- I remember..."

"It's okay!" the woman said. "You were under Zedd's influence. What you did isn't your fault."

"God I feel like a crappy person," Aiden said. He moved to put his face in his hands, but stopped short and sucked in air through his teeth as he was reminded of his shoulder pain. He grabbed the hurt shoulder with his right hand and leaned forward. The woman removed the necklace from his neck and placed it back on her own.

"You're going to be okay," she said. "And your friends all understand, I promise."

Kat walked over to the woman, giving her a hug. "Thank you Aisha," she said.

Aisha smiled as the hug ended. "Hey, what are friends for?"

Ty stepped forward. "Um, I'm confused. Is Aiden fixed now?"

Aisha nodded. "Love conquers all. This necklace was a gift from my grandmother. It's full of love energy, and can counteract a variety of negative emotions. We found that out years ago when we fought the Hate Master." She looked to Aiden. "He's fine now, but he'll need a lot of support from you guys."

Thuy nodded. "Of course," she said. "What are friends for?"

* * *

 _Location: Angel Grove High School_

Aiden stood by the punch table, the music blaring loudly. His right arm was in a sling, and he leaned against the wall staring at the punch like it held the secrets of the universe. He felt a tap on his left shoulder, and he turned around to see Jake. He must have slipped away from his date for a few minutes. "Hey," he said. Aiden nodded to him, but said nothing. "How's the arm?" Jake probed.

Aiden sighed. "It's okay," he said. "A few weeks and it'll be better."

There was a silence between them. Finally, Aiden spoke. "I'm sorry, Jake. The things I said and did..."

"...weren't your fault," Jake interrupted. "Zedd screwed with your insecurities. And... some of those insecurities come from me. But I want you to know I'm not gunning for your job. I think you're a great leader. All that? The anger, the shame... the whole leadership debacle is behind us. I want you to know that."

Aiden smiled. "Thanks," he said. "That's... a load off my mind. I didn't even know that was a load _on_ my mind in the first place."

Jake nodded, then looked past Aiden. He gave a "what's up" head nod to someone there, then looked knowingly at Aiden before walking away. Aiden turned around to see Eric standing there. "What, you ask me to the dance then hide by the punch table?" He smirked.

"Ah, sorry about that," Aiden said. "Just needed to give the arm a rest for a bit. You ready to get back out there and dance?"

Eric nodded. "I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
